Evil Little Follower
by Cerenbus.Snape.Malfoy
Summary: There was once a boy called Malum, who was the son of Severus Snape. Malum had no choice for his life, as he was bred only to do Voldemort's wishes. Malum's mother wants to rid herself of the walking curse known as her son. What she doesn't know, is that the boy's father had grown to be fond of him, and would stop at nothing to protect him. (prequel to The Boy No One Knew)
1. Chapter 1

**WARNING! **Do NOT read unless you have read my other story: The Boy No One Knew, or else you will not understand this story at all, and there are many spoilers in this story that will ruin the other one for you! However this story _can _be read by itself, if you ever want to read The Boy No One Knew, there will be many things completely spoiled if you read this first…

Also, please note that this story contains child abuse, mental problems, dark moments, blood, pain, torture and other shady stuff. For those of you who like stuff like that; enjoy! :D

**Disclaimer: **Me? Own Harry Potter? I wish but… No… just… no.

**Genres: **Angst, torture, romance, pain, blood, gore, mental instability, blah blah blah, you get the gist. Read on :D

/_italics mean dreams and sometimes thoughts. _**/Bold means letters or notes that the character is reading or, if followed by an impending 'AN' it means 'Author's notes' **

**AN: This story is set before Harry's first year at Hogwarts, mind you… Malum/Falin is the same age as Harry, so just remember that. ;) **

**This story has a LOT of OC charries, and only a couple cannon characters; Severus Snape, Bellatrix Lestrange, Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, Harry Potter (briefly) Hermione and Ron Weasley… blah blah blah, you get the gist. Read on. :D **

**EVIL LITTLE FOLLOWER**

**Chapter one:**

**A Child Called Evil**

**POV: Severus Snape**

The first weeks of her pregnancy had been simply dismal, as she had demanded that I give her my full attention, and cater to her every need. She felt the need to make me miserable along with her, apparently because she felt I was responsible for the 'thing' inside her.

I merely went along with her wishes, if only to get her to stop her insufferable whining.

As the months went by, she became more and more irritable. I spent most of my time as far away from Malfoy Manor as I could get for as long as time would allow.

And then, the time arrived, a cold, dreary night to say the least, the winds were mild and the rain light, but the air seemed haunted, mystified. There was ghost of reason behind that dreadful night, where she spent eight hours of her time restlessly pushing, and, though I didn't want to, she had demanded I be present for the birth of my child. It had been a chilling experience to say the least.

Sometimes, I wondered if childbirth really was all that painful, or if women just over-dramatized it to get the attention of their lover. I found that thought to be interesting, and in need of further investigation.

However, as I stared down at the deathly pale child as he squirmed in his mother's grasp, all thoughts were reverted solely to the child. It was still a new idea to me that I was going to be, that I already _was _a father. It was an odd sensation, but not one I had never experienced before, as my first child was sitting at home that very moment with her aunt.

I stared down at my second child. The sickly infant reached out tiny hands and grasped helplessly at thin air. It was hard to believe that this ghostly child was destined to be the Dark Lord's most loyal and powerful follower. "A beautiful child, Severus. Surprising, I must say, considering you fathered it." The dark haired witch grinned defiantly up at me from where she lay on the bed in the hospital, holding the limp child who had very nearly died after being born. We hadn't been allowed to see him until after an hour had passed, where they had rushed him away for immediate surgery to his lungs and heart.

I merely scowled back at her, refusing to let the insult bother me. "Indeed." I replied curtly. "What shall we name… it." I was loathe to call the child 'him', as he was nothing but a tool.

"Malum Lixam." She smiled down at the pallid infant.

I considered the name. "Evil follower?" I questioned, knowing Latin well enough to understand the meaning of the name.

"Isn't it perfect?" She breathed. I made no comment. "Take him, to the Dark Lord, he will want to meet him." She held the tiny child out to me. I hesitated, then took him carefully, pushing the blanket he was wrapped in down slightly so I could see his face.

"Bella, are you sure he'll want to be bothered right now?" I asked, looking down at a beaming Bellatrix Lestrange.

"Of course he will! Like it or not, Severus, the Dark Lord himself chose us to breed an heir, and an heir we have finally produced. Now take Malum to meet the Dark Lord, or I'll do it myself." She glared at me.

I stared down at her, actually considering letting the insufferable woman strain herself immediately after giving birth, as it wouldn't bother me in the slightest if she actually did hurt herself. "Bella, I don't think it wise to show the Dark Lord something that can't be of use to him until a few years have passed." I replied quietly, handing the feather-light child back to her. "Besides, it… was just born, can't be separated from you for too long." I told her quietly.

She glared at me, holding the baby. Her expression softened as Malum moved and made a slight sound that resembled gasping in for air. She looked down at him, smiling. "That's right, my evil little follower, grow strong, and soon, you will serve our Lord well."

…

Despite what I had said about the Dark Lord lacking interest in the boy, he himself requested to see the child the next time I saw him.

"Of course, my Lord." I dipped my head respectably to the intimidating man. He waited patiently, staring at me, and only then, did I realize he meant *now*

I moved away quickly, heading for the room Bella and the child were staying in. We were currently at the Malfoy Manor, staying with Bellatrix' sister and her husband, whom also had recently had a child. Lucius, the father, seemed set on thinking his newborn son, Draco, was the actual chosen heir of the Dark Lord, while in reality, it was indeed Malum.

"Bella? I tapped on the door as I opened it.

"Come in." She told me even though I was already entering. I stared pointedly at her face as she was in the middle of… feeding, the child, with no attempt made of covering anything. "What's wrong, Sev? Nothing you haven't seen before." Her voice was scathing and dripping with sarcasm. I ignored her attempt to start an argument.

"The Dark Lord has requested to meet Malum." I told her.

Her face lit up immediately. "Really?" She looked down at her son, then back up at me, a cocky expression donned there. "I told you he would want to meet _my _child." She played tauntingly, daring me to correct her and say that it was in fact _our _child, very much mine as it was hers, but I didn't bother.

"Yes yes, you were right, now give me the child." I growled at her. She smirked and covered her chest, fixing the blanket the child was wrapped in, then carefully handed him up to me.

I took the delicate infant in my arms carefully, amazed once again at how light he was, before nodding curtly at Bellatrix and going out of the room. I returned to the Dark Lord, whom was being entertained by Lucius, who, once again, was trying to convince the dark man that Draco was the rightful heir.

"Ah, Severus, so pleased you could join us, and… is that, who I think it is?" he smiled, and I was once again reminded of how often the dark man put on a charming act.

"Yes, my Lord." I replied, trying not to act too pleased as I saw Lucius huff and leave the room, as Voldemort was no longer paying him any mind. The Dark Lord stood before me as I held the small child carefully.

He lifted a pale, slender hand and pulled the blanket down to see the child's face better. He was rewarded by the fact that Malum, for once, was awake. I felt my blood go cold as I stared at his opened eyes. I had never seen them before, and they, disturbed me. I felt as though I were staring into a mirror, his eyes resembled mine so much. His sister's eyes were her mother's; a dark green.

The child stared blankly at the Dark Lord who chuckled and looked up at me. "He's perfect, now isn't he? Bred by my two favored followers. It's a sign you know, that he has your eyes. He will make a brilliant follower indeed. It's a shame your daughter wasn't fit for my plans. But I assure you, I will find a use for her." The Dark Lord swept around the room, inspecting random things and pretending to be engrossed in them as he spoke.

I was still spellbound by my son's eyes, as they remained locked with mine. He stared at me with an intelligence that was beyond his age, as he was merely days old. I looked up from him to see the Dark Lord's eyes on me. "I want you and the boy's mother to raise him together, train him in my ways. I want a perfect specimen, Severus." There seemed to be slight threat behind his tone that I caught on to right away.

"Of course, my Lord." I stared back at him evenly, keeping my mind carefully blank as I felt his presence lingering just outside.

"Well then, I have other things to attend to." With that, he Disapparated, and was gone in a great cloud of black, leaving me alone with my child's enthralling eyes, still staring at me. Self-consciously, I pulled the blanket closer around his face and tucked him carefully in my arms as I carried him back to his mother.

"What did he say?" Bellatrix practically shrieked as soon as I'd entered. Her eyes were wide, almost pleading, with a hint of hopefulness, and of course, dread. Little Mirianda was sitting on the bed with her, also looking up at me curiously. "He hated him, didn't he? It's all your fault!" Bella cried. She was still flustered from our first attempt, with Mirianda two years before. The Dark Lord, though vile and cruel, was a man of standards. He wanted a male heir. Though he assured us a use for Mirianda would be found, he refused to use her as his heir.

"Calm yourself, Bella, he rather enjoyed meeting Malum and believes he has potential." I told her, handing her the child. Fleetingly, I found myself thinking of how I had finally referred to the boy as a living thing, and not an 'it'.

A wide smile plastered itself on her features, making her seem, for the moment, a perfectly normal woman who was most pleasing to the eye. And then, a demented cackle erupted from her lips as she stared down at her son. "I knew it! I told you he would love him!" She cried, scaring the child and making him cry. "Hush now, child. You've nothing to cry over. The Dark Lord, your master, has great plans for you." She told the child softly, rocking him gently.

"Another, thing. I might add." I began smugly, folding my arms and wrapping the black cloak I was wearing more tightly around myself. Her smile vanished as she looked up at me, to be replaced with a cold dislike that could almost be named hatred. Not quite, but almost. The loathe was mutual.

"The Dark Lord, _requests, _that we both have a hand in raising the boy." I told her, only thinly veiling my pleasure at seeing her _dis_pleasure.

She set her jaw in a firm line, eyes narrowed. "Fine." She hissed. "But only because the Dark Lord wishes it." She continued, sticking out her chin. "Not, because it has anything to do with you being the father."

I let a taunting smile play at my lips. "Good, then we understand each other." With that, I left.

**AN: So… what'ya think so far? Eh? EH? Yes? No? Maybe? Well, please review! I'd love to know what you think. This story is basically the prequel to 'The Boy No One Knew' And just in case you hadn't noticed, Malum is Falin, just making sure you know that.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two:**

**Born To Be Used**

**POV: Severus Snape**

Over the years, raising Malum seemed to be an extraordinary feat, as the child was insufferable at best.

Bellatrix was greatly distressed by the fall of the Dark Lord, and we ourselves barely escaped Azkaban. I on the pretext of turning light, and Bellatrix, merely because… actually I wasn't quite sure just _how _she slithered her way out of a life sentence in Azkaban… she had probably merely avoided capture, as I recalled seeing wanted posters with her face sneering at me all around the many wizarding towns.

Bellatrix had become more frantic in her teachings of Malum, punishing him severely in ways I questioned, but never put a stop to. She had lost all motherly love for the child, and only saw in him a potential weapon to be used by the Dark Lord when, not if, he returned.

Despite his mother's cruel ways of teaching, Malum showed great magical potential, his first signs showing when he was merely two, _much_ sooner than any would have expected. Then again, Bellatrix did pride herself in having taken many spells and potions in the time she was expecting Malum, hoping to enhance his magical abilities. His older sister, though also a powerful witch, hadn't even shown magical abilities at that young an age.

As Malum grew older, he only became more and more peculiar. As in, ever since he was born, his skin was oddly pallid, even for him, and ice cold to the touch. And our joint attempts to warm him only seemed to make him upset or even ill. Therefore, we allowed him to remain cold. He rarely ever spoke, despite our attempts to make him. And he was maddeningly disobedient, to which Bellatrix reverted to more brutal punishments.

I myself never hit the boy, though was very well tempted to at times. Every time I saw Bellatrix punish the child, I felt little pieces of myself being ripped away, but still, I did nothing.

…

"And… you say it is a mental illness?" The Dark Lord sounded displeased.

"Yes, my Lord." Bellatrix looked and sounded ready to burst into tears, staring down at Malum with a mixture of disdain and sorrow.

"And there is no cure?" The Dark Lord checked, looking to me this time.

"No, my Lord. It will… hinder his abilities, but we can work through it. The only problem as of yet is the fact that he does not speak." I replied solemnly. The news of Malum being mentally ill was a shock to me. We had found it out one day when Lucius and Narcissa were taking their son for his physical, and insisted on taking our children as well.

"Crucio!" That, I suppose was expected. Bellatrix, I and the children fell to the floor, all writhing and screaming in pain. The Dark Lord stopped and we all lay there, panting and trembling, Malum was not moving at all, Mirianda was twitching and whimpering.

"I thought I told you, I wanted a perfect specimen, after your first failed attempt, am I correct, Severus?" He demanded, his normally silky voice was hissed at me through clenched teeth.

"Yes… my Lord." I choked out, trying to sit up, but not quite managing.

He glared down at us, looking ready to torture us again, then stopped, thinking. "However, your son did show great potential before the illness…" He began slowly, regarding Bellatrix and I searchingly.

"My Lord…?" I asked dubiously, finally managing to stand and also helping Bellatrix to her feet, while Mirianda climbed shakily to hers, all ignoring the lifeless boy completely as he lay crumpled on the floor, unmoving.

"My Lord?" Bellatrix echoed, sounding almost frightened as though she were already guessing at what was going through the dark man's wicked mind.

"I want you, and Severus, to try again." He began.

Many Death Eaters who were still seated smirked and even chuckled if they dared as they stared at us knowingly, though Bellatrix' ex husband, Rodolphus looked down at the table. Any hopes he'd previously had about getting his wife back were steadily being ripped away.

"B-but, my Lord!" Bellatrix cried.

"SILENCE! Bellatrix. Silence." His voice started out booming, then returned to its soft, silky pretence. "Silence, my dear Bellatrix. Now, this time, I want no chances to be taken. Every known spell will be used on the child before and after birth to prevent illness. If the child dies, it dies, and we will know it as a sign that Lucius' son truly is the chosen dark wizard." His eyes traveled over the silent Death Eaters in his midst.

"Yes, my Lord." Bellatrix mumbled humbly, bowing her head.

I dipped my head a little more hesitantly. Using yet another child for dark purposes? Using dark, unpredictable, experimental spells on it? It was unbelievably wrong, especially considering how Malum had turned out, but dare I mention it to the Dark Lord? No. Was I even supposed to care about all the dangers this could pose to the child? Probably not.

Silently, I thought of young Malum, who lay on the floor that very moment, still as fallen leaves. Then glanced at Mirianda, who looked terrified and shaken, as she was so young and had yet to grasp understanding of why she was in pain. The tiny, pale, two year old boy and the small, innocent four year old girl were paying for the mistakes of their parents, and, regrettably, only one of their parents was truly remorseful. I had a lot to think about on the way home that night.

**POV: Bellatrix Black**

I slumped down in a chair in the living room of my sister's home, staring blindly ahead, feeling slightly dizzy. It had been approximately a month after the meeting with the Dark Lord where he had told Severus and I to produce a third –and hopefully final- heir for him.

"What's wrong, Bella?" Narcissa asked gently.

"I'm pregnant." I replied flatly. "We finally did it." It had taken quite a few more… attempts, than the last two times.

"Oh." Was all Narcissa said. I knew she wanted to be excited for me, as she was the first and second time around, but I knew she was opposed to another child being brought into the war before it was even born. She'd had the same qualms before Mirianda and Malum were born.

And I also knew she understood that I had made it quite clear that I didn't want another child. Another disappointment.

"Have you told Severus yet?" She asked quietly.

I scowled, clenching my fists tightly. "No." I said through gritted teeth.

Narcissa was silent again. "What about our Lord?" She asked.

My face softened a bit, though only slightly, as I was still upset with him for making Severus and I try again.

"Yes, and he is pleased." I replied, my tone uncertain. I turned to stare at Narcissa almost pleadingly. "I don't want to disappoint him again, Cissy! What if the child dies? What if it turns out just like Malum? What if it's another girl?"

Narcissa gave me a sympathetic look, but had no answer for me. "I don't know Bella. I'm sorry." She told me quietly. I sighed and slumped even further into my seat.

**POV: Severus Snape**

Bellatrix' pregnancy went as smoothly as the first two times around. Of course, if one considered daily morning sickness and long nights of putting up with her as she moaned needlessly and many, many days of putting up with her attitude, to be 'smooth'. One day, in Malum's third year of life, Mirianda's fifth, and Bellatrix' seventh month of pregnancy, we were all sitting to a quiet breakfast, I felt an odd sensation as I stared back at him. He had been staring at me strangely all morning. It felt as though my mind was being probed. Silently, I wondered if he was showing signs of being a natural Legilimens.

"Will you two stop that, you've been staring at each other all day, it's unnerving." Bellatrix snapped, carelessly dumping cereal into her bowl and eating it with her hands, not even bothering to add milk. What a fine example of table manners she was displaying for her children. It didn't matter in Malum's case, however, he wasn't paying his mother any mind.

"Bella, it's fine, they're not causing any trouble." Narcissa tried to placate her sister.

"It sets my teeth on edge." Bellatrix grumbled, stuffing a handful of cereal into her mouth.

"She's right you know." Lucius added unhelpfully.

I dropped my gaze, but still felt his on me.

Young Draco, who had long since given up trying to be friends with the silent Malum, pushed his food away and asked to be excused in his tiny three-year-old voice. My eyes turned to the little blonde boy as he stared at his father expectantly. Lucius shooed him away without looking up from his newspaper.

I sighed, still feeling a tiny presence probing my mind. I looked back at Malum, and he didn't flinch under my glare. "Malum, go to your room." I told him roughly. Malum immediately did as he was told, leaving his plate full of uneaten food. I sighed again, pushing my food away, no longer hungry.

"Leave him, Severus, he doesn't respond to you as well as he responds to me." Bellatrix told me, standing with a little difficulty, then pushing me back down as I was preparing to go after the boy. She smirked, putting one hand to the baby bump on her stomach, pulling out her wand with her other and lazily following her small son. I sighed again, not much feeling like eating.

"Horrible, the way she treats Malum, Severus, why don't you ever do anything about it?" Narcissa sighed, looking up at me. I stared at the woman who was Draco's mother.

I just shook my head. "Does no good to even try." I replied, standing and walking away, trying to ignore Malum's scream's as they echoed through the halls of the mansion.

If I thought then, that Bellatrix was horrible to the boy, I would have felt dreadful knowing how much worse she would be to him in the years to come.

**AN: So, in this, Bellatrix isn't captured and isn't put in Azkaban, she, Rodolphus, Regulus and Barty Crouch Jr. all torture the Longbottom's in 1981, which is a year after Falin was born, but rather than being caught, she escaped. Just to clear that up, she was never in Azkaban at all in this. ;) Please review?**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter three:**

**Brilliant Peace; Leaving**

** POV: Severus Snape**

It was the end of Bellatrix' third pregnancy, and, for the third time in my life, I was at her side, holding her hand as she pushed for the life of a new being, screaming until my ears rang, squeezing my hand until my bones cracked. Her efforts were rewarded with a healthy child, much healthier than her bother.

Ah yes, her. It was a baby girl, much to Bellatrix' dismay, with very dark green eyes like her mother's and sisters, pale skin, nowhere near as pale as her sickly bother, and dark, curly hair, but not as midnight black as mine or Malum's. All in all, she favored her mother. Bellatrix smiled down at the little girl. "She's perfect." She breathed, despite the fact that the Dark Lord had plainly stated that he wanted a male heir.

"I seem to remember you saying that about Mirianda, when she was born. And again when Malum was born." My remark earned me a scowl from Bellatrix.

"Shut up." She hissed. "I'm exhausted, take the girl, and begin casting health charms on her. I want her to be perfect." She murmured, handing me the girl.

Bellatrix fell asleep almost instantly after, leaving me to name the girl whatever I dared. I stared down at her as she slept in my arms, heavier than her brother had been when he was born. "Illumine Shalom." I murmured, knowing the name translated to radiant peace. I figured we could use some radiant peace in our lives. "…Snape." It was odd, adding my last name to another beings, but I had done it already twice before, though whether or not I had allowed myself to accept the fact depended on how willing I was to remember it.

I stared at her sadly. She was perfect. Even though she wasn't the right gender, she was exactly what the Dark Lord wanted. Healthy, with a sly, cunning air about her. And that, was _not _a good thing for my little Lumin.

As the next year came on, we began noticing changes in Malum and his sisters. Not just in appearances, but behavior. Malum had already been quiet before, but never altogether silent, and he had always been quite pale and cold, but never before had I seen him so drained of color. And he altogether stopped using magic.

Lumin, however, was showing great potential, was quite talkative, and eager to learn, despite her young age. She, however, had not yet shown any signs of magic, which was expected, as she was still quite young.

Mirianda, who was six by this point, was progressing fairly well in magic, though could still only do very simple spells, as expected for a young child.

I had tried asking Malum once or twice what was wrong, but he still didn't answer me and I gave up. Bellatrix, unhelpful as ever, merely tortured the poor boy, trying to make him tell her why he was acting the way he was and why he had stopped using magic, but the results were only worse.

The Dark Lord himself, who had returned as of late, weak, but growing strong steadily while Dumbledore and his followers remained blind to his return, was starting to also lose interest in the boy as he stopped showing potential, despite the potential he had shown in the past, and was not as interested in Lumin as she was a girl, and hadn't yet shown magical talent. He reserved slight interest in Mirianda, but not an exemplary amount as she wasn't overly special. Bellatrix soon became desperate to make her children do magic, torturing muggles and Aurors in their presence, and insisting they try it too.

Then, I did begin questioning her methods, trying to tell her that perhaps _that _was why Malum was acting so poorly, and why the girls weren't progressing in magic, to which she replied by calling me a few choice words and accusing me of, 'going soft'

I would then insist that I wanted the Dark Lord to use our children as much as she did, I simply believed her methods were seemingly getting no good results. It was during the time we argued when Malum would disappear, making his mother angrier.

"Maaaaaluuuuum!" Bellatrix would sing in her demented voice as she searched the house for her reclusive son. I would feign searching for him as well, even calling threats to him for Bellatrix' benefit. However, when he didn't want to be found, we simply couldn't find him in the huge Malfoy Manor.

"That's it, we're leaving." Bellatrix declared one day in particular that Malum _and _the girls had been missing for hours.

"But Bella-" Narcissa pleaded.

_"No,_ Cissy. This place is too big, there're too many places for those brats to hide, we're taking them somewhere we can teach them without them being able to hide from us." Bellatrix had herself worked up, and she was throwing things angrily into her bag as she packed. I merely stood calmly in the doorway as her sister tried to persuade her to stay, but Bellatrix wouldn't change her mind.

She looked up at me sharply. "Well, go pack your things!" She snapped. I raised an eyebrow, considering defying her, but thinking better of it. Especially in the mood she was already in, so I merely shrugged and left, packing the few possessions I had accumulated over the years of staying with the Malfoy's.

I bumped into Lucius in the hallway. "You aren't really leaving, now are you, Severus?" He asked in his despicably silky manner. I stared at him, not bothering to hide that even after all those years, I still disliked and mistrusted him. One never underestimated a Malfoy, especially not Lucius Malfoy. They were uncanny creatures. You never knew for sure whose side they were really on, yours or someone else's. The only thing for certain was they were always on their own side, doing whatever it took to ensure the safety and well being of their own lives at any price.

"Indeed, it seems we are." I replied. "You haven't happened to see Malum or the girls anywhere, have you?" I asked, a little too hopefully.

"I'm afraid not, ask Draco though, he may know." He replied as he moved around me, momentarily stepping into my personal space. I glared after him, irritated. Silently, I wondered how Draco could possibly know, but I decided it was worth a shot anyway, being as the boys were the same age, and, though they didn't seem to be friends, it was likely the only person that would know would be Draco.

I knocked on his door and went in, hearing him whispering. He turned sharply to stare at me guiltily. "Uncle Severus?" he asked shakily in his young six-year old voice, standing in front of his bed, hands clasped behind him, little four year old Lumin and seven –almost eight- year old Mirianda sitting on the floor and playing with a few of his toys. I narrowed my eyes at the girls and they hugged each other fearfully, looking like they wanted to shrink into the floor.

"Draco." I returned, my eyes scanning the overly-large bedroom which was much too big for a small boy like him. "You don't happen to know where Malum is, do you?" I asked.

He stared at the floor. "No." His voice leapt several octaves and I narrowed my eyes at my godson.

"Draco, are you _sure?" _I pressed. He swallowed, his eyes flicking to his closet.

Wordlessly, I moved over to it, despite Draco's murmured begging for me not to. I opened the door and stepped into the largest walk-in closet I had ever seen. And I had thought the closet in my guest room had been big. My eyes scanned the rows and rows of clothing that one boy his age would never be able to use before he grew out of them.

My eyes rested on a pair of tiny feet that stuck out from behind a rack of clothing at the far end. I ignored Draco and Mirianda as they grabbed my wrist and pulled back, digging their feet into the floor and being dragged for their efforts. "Malum?" I pushed the clothes aside to reveal a ghostly face, even paler amongst the dark clothing.

I grabbed him and pulled him out, frustration showing only through my rough handling of the boy as I pushed him out. Patience wearing thin with Draco and Mirianda, who still clung to my arm, I thrust them to the floor and they scrambled to their feet, shooting Malum an apologetic look, recognizable even though they were so young.

"Come, Lumin." I growled, and she scrabbled to her feet, following us as I dragged Malum out of the room to see Bellatrix waiting there.

"What were you doing in Draco's-" She stopped when her eyes landed on Malum, who sub-consciously moved closer to me, only to get further from her.

In one, swift movement, she had snatched Malum by his collar. "I, have had enough of you." She hissed, raising a hand and bringing it down hard across the boy's face, leaving a long red streak on the pale skin. He let out a cry of pain, and I knew she must have hit him hard, because he never made any noise when she hurt him, afraid she'd hurt him more. His tiny, pale hand flew up to his cheek, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Belatrix shook him violently and his head snapped back and forth as he was rattled like a rag doll. He let out another cry of pain as he bit down accidentally on his tongue and blood started dripping down his chin. Bellatrix, completely unbothered by her son's pain, moved her gaze back to Draco who had timidly come out of the room to stand beside Lumin and Mirianda.

"What's going on?" Lucius came briskly down the hall, his wife in tow. Bellatrix shoved Malum roughly to the floor, then snaked an arm out and grabbed Draco, who let out a tiny squeak of terror. "Unhand my son!" Lucius, grabbed Bellatrix' other arm as it reached for her wand.

Out of the corner o my eye, I saw Malum desperately clutching his face, rocking back and forth, eyes squeezed shut as tears spilled from them. I was tempted to comort him, but unwilling to pay whatever price Bellatrix would duel out for such a thing.

Bellatrix' head snapped around to glare at Lucius. Then back to me. "You mean that filthy little _brat" _–I was mildly impressed with her for restraining from using a different word- "has been harboring Malum and the girls for all these years whenever they've gone to hide somewhere?" She shrieked, not even attempting from hiding the disturbia from her voice, scaring the children. Lumin pressed herself up against me and reached up, begging to be lifted. I picked her up and held her with one arm, as she was still very little, and Mirianda wrapped her arms around my leg.

I nodded, agreeing to what Bellatrix was saying. Bellatrix turned back to Lucius, lifting his small son easily to shove him into his face. Lucius grabbed his son and set him down, glaring at Bellatrix.

"Your _son _is the reason the Dark Lord's prizes have been making no progress in magic! He's been filling their heads with insolence! He _must _be punished, or the Dark Lord _will _hear about this!" She shrieked.

Lucius seemed to consider this for a moment. "He's just a boy, he didn't know what he was doing was wrong." He replied evenly, a hand resting on his son's shoulder.

"Then _make _him understand, Lucius!" Bellatrix shrieked, stomping her foot like an angry child. I had caught Malum trying to run off again, but had successfully grabbed hold of him with my free hand, and I regretting grabbing him so roughly instantly, as I knew his thin wrist would end up bruised.

Bellatrix and Lucius started arguing madly, their voices raised. "Do it! Hit him!" Bellatrix shrieked.

"No!" Lucius screamed right back, all manner of hospitality in his voice gone.

"DO IT!" Bellatrix shrieked.

"I will do no such thing, and nothing you do can make me!" Lucius shouted back.

"Do it or _I will!_" She threatened. In one, swift movement, Lucius had hit his son, square in the face, and knocked him over. The shock on his face made Bellatrix cackle and step over the blonde boy as he lay on the floor, covering his face with tiny hands, eyes as wide as his father's.

Narcissa rushed to her son's side, and I stared at Lucius for a long moment, before pushing my own son ahead of me and following Bellatrix, Mirianda scrambling after us. We left the house, and the Malfoy's didn't accompany us to the door, like they usually did.

Despite her small victory in successfully getting Lucius to hit his son, Bellatrix was fuming. "We lost at least three years of training from Malum's life because of that little bastard." This time she did say the word, and for some reason, I felt compelled to cover Malum's, Mirianda's and Lumin's ears, though they had heard the word many times before when Bellatrix was yelling at me.

"We'll go to _your _house this time, where we should have been from the start." She hissed, angrily slumping her bag over her shoulder for better leverage. I mildly considered this, holding my bag in one hand, other resting firmly on Malum's shoulder as he struggled with his own bag, though it was light and had little in it. I had transferred Lumin over to Bellatrix, who was holding the child with great care, and Mirianda was carrying her own bag with ease, the strongest of our children, while she slipped her free hand into the hand I had clutched around my bag.

"There's no possible way we can do that." I told her after a moment of walking in silence.

Bellatrix turned to me sharply. "And why, may I ask, would that be?" She demanded. I shrugged, not much feeling like explaining myself to her. The truth of the matter was, we needed to go into hiding, a place where no one would find us. And my home was certainly not a good place to hide and wasn't a particularly good environment for children, being as my father had muggle parties there almost nightly, inviting all his drunken muggle friends.

"We'll go to muggle London and rent something." I told her, earning a flabbergasted gasp.

"You're not serious, right? Please tell me you're not serious!" She shrieked.

"I'm always serious." I replied, to which she snorted and turned away.

"Whatever. But don't blame me if a few filthy muggles end up dead because of their own stupidity." She hissed.

I turned on her. "You will _not_ blow our cover, no matter the cost, even if it means leaving a few muggles alive." I warned, lowering my voice as we were nearing muggle infested streets. She just hissed and turned away, storming down the road.

We made an odd sight to the muggles, an adult male wearing all black with pale skin, black hair and dark eyes, accompanied by an adult female in all black, with green eyes, pale skin, thick, dark lips and long, curly black hair messily sprouting from her head and part of it covering her face, along with a young girl in a black dress, long, stick straight black hair framing her heart-shaped jawline and high cheekbones, pale skin adding to her mystique, a small boy wearing all black, with sickly pale skin, straight black hair and black eyes, a red hand mark on his cheek and a dribble of blood on his chin, with his little sister, in her mother's arms with –get this- a _black_ dress, curly black hair and green eyes, the same high cheekbones, complexion and dark lips as her mother. We looked like something a muggle might see in one of their fairytales.

A strange sight indeed, however, what we did resemble was a family. Something which I felt I didn't want people to see. I most certainly didn't want them to think that Bellatrix was my wife, and I didn't want them to think Mirianda, Malum and Lumin were my children. Even though they were, I still felt it odd, and despised the looks certain people gave us.

"Must we take the train with all these filthy mu-"

I pressed my shoulder against Bellatrix' in a way to remind her that we were in fact _surrounded _by muggles and she needed to shut up and try to fit in. She grumbled, making a face and setting her jaw in a firm line. "Malum, don't wander." She hissed when I had dropped my hand from his shoulder.

I quickly snatched his hand as he was about to walk right into a muggle family. Malum yanked his hand out of mine, the force of his effort causing him to stumble. I set my bag down and chased after him as he managed to bump into the muggles again. "Sorry." I muttered, yanking him to his feet and hissing in his ear for him to behave.

"It's fine, you know how children are." The woman replied, smiling down at Malum. Malum stared up at her, uncertain how to respond to her smile, as he had probably never seen a genuine smile in his life.

I smiled back stiffly, pushing Malum ahead of me and trying to get away from her. "Where you folks headed?" Her husband asked, he had an accent, probably from somewhere in America. I stared at him for a moment, wondering if all muggles were this friendly, or if he was just being nosey.

I was about to reply when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see Bellatrix, smiling forcefully and clutching Lumin carefully, her bag left with mine and Malum's, guarded by Mirianda a few feet away. "Dearest." She said through her teeth, hardly managing to not spit the word in my face. "What are you doing?" She asked.

"Just fetching _our _son." I replied, the same forced fondness in my voice.

"Would you hurry up a bit?" She said brightly, still smiling ear-to-ear in a sickeningly fake smile that the muggles didn't seem to notice.

"Of course." I turned back to Malum, who was staring curiously at the muggle children.

"Oh look, the train's here." The muggle man said brightly.

"Oh goody, you're getting on the train too." Bellatrix had to turn away to hide her expression. It was all I could do to keep from laughing at her misfortune, but then, it was _my_ misfortune too.

"Come then, _dearest." _I said smugly, moving past her and grabbing our bags, telling Mirianda to stay close.

"Malum, come." Bellatrix reached out her free hand for Malum to take. He stepped back, pressing against the muggle woman. "Malum." Bellatrix said in a warning tone.

"Bella, hurry it up." I called.

"Come, Malum, stop this foolishness." Bellatrix was having trouble keeping the anger out of her voice.

"Go on dear, don't exasperate your mum." The muggle woman pushed Malum forward slightly, a motion he resisted whole-heartedly.

"Bella, we're going to miss the train." I called.

"I heard you the first time, Severus." She hissed back. "Malum! Come here!" She demanded. When she used that tone, Malum never dared defy her. He stepped forward quickly, taking Bellatrix' hand.

She dragged her son after her and we boarded the train, followed by the muggles, who took the liberty of sitting with us in the same compartment, using the excuse of, 'everywhere else is full'

Bellatrix was furious, and I could tell, because she stared out the window, her jaw set in a firm line, Lumin in her lap, staring at the muggles. I could tell Bellatrix wanted so desperately to yell at Malum for making a fool of her out there, but she couldn't thanks to the stupid muggles. I sat closely beside her, well aware of the muggles sitting across from us, and I tried to avoid eye-contact as much as possible.

Malum was sitting next to me, and Mirianda next to him. One of the muggle children was next to her, while the other sat with her parents. "If she's bothering you, let us know." The woman told us, indicating her daughter who seemed fascinated by us. I merely smiled stiffly, not replying, as I didn't trust myself to not tell her how I really felt of them.

"Is your son alright? He seems rather… off colour." The woman asked after a moment of staring.

"He's fine." I replied curtly, then cleared my throat to hide it. "He's fine." I said again, lighter this time. Malum, who seemed intent on making fools out of us, seemed ready to say otherwise. Personally, I think he really was a little sick from the movement of the train, though I do believe he was over-dramatizing it a bit.

He moaned every few seconds, clutching at his stomach and making the worst faces imaginable. I sighed, patting him awkwardly on the back and murmuring that we'd be there soon. "No we won't." The girl piped up unhelpfully. "I thought mum said this was a three-day train ride!" I glared at her, because at that, Malum let out another moan, leaning into me.

I stared at his face, which seemed about ten shades paler than usual. I nudged Bellatrix, who lazily turned away from the window to stare at her son, a blank look on her face. Her face hardened, then softened, then hardened again. "So? What do you want me to do about it?" She asked sharply.

Malum moaned again, his face turning slightly green. "Hun, I think he's gonna be sick." The muggle woman said, paling slightly.

"What do I do?" Bellatrix' face hardened even more.

"Take him to the bathroom, it's back that way." She poked her thumb in the general direction. Bellatrix stood, handing Lumin over to me and snatching her son's hand, pulling him to his feet and out of the compartment anything but gently.

I sighed, left almost completely alone with the muggles, and not enjoying it in the slightest. I tried avoiding conversation by staring intently at my daughter, showing her my hand and letting her play with my fingers as she often liked doing, hoping they would take it as a sign that I didn't want to talk, but I had no such luck.

"How old are your kids?" The man asked.

I looked up at him, my face carefully blank. "Eight, six and four." I replied plainly.

"I'm six too!" The little girl piped up. I glanced at her, as she was sitting next to Mirianda.

"And I'm ten." The older girl added. I nodded, trying to seem interested, but not quite managing.

"Kids are a handful, aren't they? Not trying to be rude or anything, but you seem a bit overwhelmed with yours." The man laughed.

I nodded again, forcing a smile. "Oh, you have no idea." I muttered, staring at Lumin again and briefly glancing at Mirianda.

"I'm Randy, by the way," He thrust his hand forward, and I had no choice but to shake it. "This is my wife, Annenia, but we call her Anne and these are our daughters, Kelly and Susan." Susan was the one who was sitting next to Mirianda, the younger of the two muggle girls.

I forced a smile at them. "Pleased to meet you." I told them crustily. Just then, Bellatrix came back with Malum in tow. He looked a little bit better, no longer sick, but certainly paler, and possibly in pain.

"Is he alright?" I asked as she sat down, making Malum sit in her lap, though he obviously didn't want to.

"Disgusting, children are." Bellatrix replied, glaring out the window and earning a laugh from the muggle… I mean Randy.

"Yes, I know, but _is he okay?" _I asked impatiently.

"Does he _look _okay, Severus?" Bellatrix hissed, indicating the tiny boy as he curled in her lap, face drawn and pale, little black eyes half open and glazed over, tiny fist clutching carefully at a handful of Bellatrix' fine, curly black hair. He was as small as Lumin, who was only half his age. It didn't look good. It didn't look good at all.

I considered him for a moment, then shrugged.

"Why don't you ask him how he feels?" Annenia suggested, rather unhelpfully.

Before I could stop her, Bellatrix shot the woman a glare. "Because the brat doesn't talk." She hissed, earning a glare from me. She just shrugged, muttering, 'it's the truth' and stared out the window again.

"No offence, but y'all seem a bit inexperienced." The man said in his insufferable American accent. I was starting to get tired of his meddling. I glanced at Mirianda as she tried to hide a smile.

"Nonsense, all children talk, unless they're deaf." Annenia slid forward, as she was sitting across from Bellatrix, ignoring her husband's crude remark.

"Sweetie?" She took Malum's hand in her own and I winced as I saw her draw back from Malum's freezing touch. Her face creased in worry. "He's freezing!" She cried, taking his hands between her own and rubbing them.

I breathed a sigh of slight relief, because if he weren't cold, it would mean he really was sick. "He's always like that." I told her.

She looked at me uncertainly, feeling of Malum's cold hands again. She shook herself out of it and smiled at Malum, who stared at her with his odd little black eyes. "Sweetie? Do you feel okay?" She asked. Malum stared at her, unblinking. He shook his head 'no' briskly. I widened my eyes. That was the most response anyone had gotten out of him in years!

"Does your tummy hurt?" Annenia asked. Malum stared at her for a moment, then shook his head again, slower this time. Annenia tipped her head slightly. "What hurts?" She asked softly. Malum considered her for a moment, then was about the pull his left arm forward when Bellatrix snatched it and pulled it back.

"I'd better go take a look at that, _sweetie."_ With that, she stood, practically dragging Malum after her, leaving me alone with the insufferable muggles again. I sighed and slunk down slightly in my seat, watching Lumin as she played with her hands, then leaned forward and pressed her little hands against my chest. "Fafar." She mumbled, saying her little nickname for me, as she hadn't quite mastered 'father' yet.

"Charming woman, your wife." Randy said, and I could detect the sarcasm, though very faint. I gave him a half-smile, almost telling him that she wasn't my wife, but decided it was better that they believe differently. I was dimly aware of Susan and Mirianda as they whispered at my side, as they already seemed to be making friends.

"Where you folks headed?" Randy asked again, and I felt like snapping at him that it was none of his bloody business, but I didn't really want to be on bad terms with people we would be staying with for three days.

"I'm not sure actually." I replied, telling him what was true. "We… had to leave Bella's sister's home… and we really have no place to go right now…" An idea popped into my head. "You don't happen to know any places for rent, would you?" I asked, refraining from eloquence so as to not confuse this particularly daft bunch of muggles.

"As a matter of fact, we do!" Annenia replied, and I immediately regretted the question. "We need some extra money, so we're renting out parts of our house for cheap." She told me.

I immediately shook my head. "No, I-"

Randy cut me off. "Come now, friend, it's the best price you'll find anywhere. At least come and look! We have a nice big house, it's fairly far away from neighbors, not too far from the nearest grocery, and there's a mighty fine school for your younguns' down the road."

I stared at him, not entirely convinced. "I'd have to talk with Bella." I mumbled, not wanting to say no, but certainly not wanting to say yes. I knew Bellatrix was going to be one hundred percent against the idea, but it still wouldn't hurt to ask.

Randy and Annenia smiled. "Wonderful." I hated how they were taking my maybe as a yes, but I just let it go.

Just then, Bellatrix came back in with Malum, but this time, she was carrying him. I stood up right away, holding Lumin carefully. "What's wrong?" I demanded.

"He's tired." Was her reply. I narrowed my eyes, not quite believing her, but I sat back down.

"Ma'am, we have a proposition for you, we were just discussing it with your husband here."

"Oh, he's not my-" I nudged her and she shut her mouth, glaring at me. "What?" She asked unenthusiastically.

"Your husband was telling us about how y'all are looking for a place to stay? We're renting out half our house, why don't you come and check it out?" Randy asked.

I saw Bellatrix glaring at me from the corner of my eye, but I didn't give in to the look. "And you said yes?" She said flatly, directed at me.

"I said we'd go and _look." _I told her, giving her a knowing look. Her face twitched and she shifted Malum in her grasp.

"Fine." She ground out, glaring out the window.

Randy raised an eyebrow at me and I merely shrugged.

…

I was woken in the middle of the night by a rustling sound. I shifted in the seat, feeling a terrible cramp in my neck taking place. I was leaned against the wall with Bellatrix leaning on me, Malum and Lumin her arms, and Mirianda on my other side, snuggled up to me. The other family had a similar arrangement. I raised a hand and rubbed my eyes tiredly.

I glanced at my timepiece. It was three in the morning. What had woken me? I looked around and found that my arm was draped carefully around Bellatrix, Lumin and Malum, my other arm around Mirianda. I moved them and sat up. Unfortunately, when I did so, Bellatrix' head slipped off my shoulder and found its way to my lap, black curls spilling over my knees. I resisted the urge to grab her head and thrust it to the floor.

I glanced at Malum, who was snuggled up in his mother's arms, but didn't quite look asleep. I must have imagined it though. Mirianda and Lumin were sound asleep. I noticed that Kelly, the older of the two muggle girls was awake and staring at me. "I can't sleep either." She told me quietly. I couldn't remember her age, so guessed she was around ten or eleven, the age one would normally start going to Hogwarts, were she not a muggle.

I didn't know how to reply, so I remained silent.

"Your family is strange." She told me rather brazenly.

I smiled, thinking just how right she was. "Oh really? How so?" I asked.

"You're all really pale." She started, tipping her head to the side. "And your hair really dark…. But I guess I've seen other people with dark hair. But your eyes are the strangest. They're like black pits of nothingness…. And then, your son's skin is really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really-"

"Are you done yet?" I intoned.

"-cold." She finished. "Can I ask you something?" She looked back up.

I hesitated. "…It depends on the question." I told her carefully, trying to hide my annoyance.

She shifted in the seat. "Are you…" She looked around, then leaned forward and whispered. "Vampires?" The ridiculousness of the question made me actually want to laugh.

I settled for an amused half-smile. "I can assure you, we are not." I told her.

She relaxed visibly. "Good, cuz if you were, I was gonna ask that you find food elsewhere." I shook my head, trying to hide my amused smile. "Well, now that I know you're not gonna eat us, I'm going to bed. G'night." She leaned back and closed her eyes, and I guessed she fell asleep right away. Silently, I wondered if she had stayed up all night watching to make sure we 'vampires' didn't try to eat them. I shook my head. Children.

…

I woke again sometime later, by then, it was morning. I opened my eyes to find that Bellatrix was still asleep and using my lap as a pillow, her arms still wrapped around Lumin. Randy was awake and sitting up, staring silently out the window. The children, including Mirianda and Malum, were sitting on the bench beside Randy and seemed to be playing some kind of muggle card game. Annenia wasn't in the compartment.

"Ah, good, you're awake." Randy noticed me and I inwardly groaned. I stared down at Bellatrix' mop of dark curls and had the unbearable urge to shove her off again, but that wouldn't make for a good start to the day, besides, the longer she slept, the less of her attitude I'd have to put up with.

"No, that's not how you play, honestly, you've never played poker before?" Susan was saying to a very peeved looking Malum.

Kelly laughed and took his hand of cards. "Cheater!" She giggled, handing it back. "Come on, let's start over." I watched them play for a long time, surveying the way Mirianda and Malum interacted with the children.

Other than Draco, I can't say that they had ever been with another child their ages before. They seemed to be doing well.

Randy's annoying accented voice cut into my thoughts. "I don't believe I caught your names, mate." He gave me a toothy smile. I cursed inwardly. I had been hoping he'd forgotten that.

"Severus." I told him, pointing to myself. "Bellatrix." I put a hand on Bellatrix' shoulder. "Mirianda." I indicated my little raven-haired oldest daughter. "Malum." I pointed distractedly at my black-eyed boy. "And Illumine." I patted Lumin's soft head of dark curls.

"Severus? Bellatrix? Mirianda? Malum? Illumine?" His voice became more incredulous with each name. "What part of London are you from?" He asked, furrowing his brow. I raised an eyebrow in question. He just shrugged. "No matter, a name's a name, eh Severus?" He smirked at me and looked up as his wife had returned. Her hair was wet.

"Bloody bathroom sink, I must have conked my head off the blasted spigot twenty times." She sighed, sitting down next to her husband, earning shouts of protest from her daughters as they scrambled to grab their cards. I watched the family of muggles, intrigued. I had never had this long of conversations with muggles before that I could remember.

I studied them carefully. Randy had messily cut, sandy brown hair with bright blue eyes and well-tanned skin. He was sturdily built, but rather thin. His wife had long dark brown hair with slight curls, light blue eyes and fair skin, though tanned in comparison to my odd little family's. Kelly, her oldest daughter, had dark brown hair with eyes somewhat between her father's and her mother's. Susan, on the other hand, had sandy brown hair with icy blue eyes that were exclusively her own. Both girl's complexions varied between their parents, but were much darker than mine, Bellatrix' Mirianda's, Malum's and Lumin's combined.

Randy was telling his wife all our names, and she was repeating them to make sure she got them all right. I turned my gaze to Annenia when I realized she was speaking to me. "If you want to, I can take May…lem, and Mirianda to the loo to get washed up, since your wife is still asleep." She offered, pronouncing Malum's name a little off, but getting Mirianda's spot on. I considered her offer for a moment as I stared at her silently. I suddenly felt as though I could trust the gentle woman, even though she was a muggle.

"Of course, thank you." I turned to Mirianda and Malum, who were still playing silently with the muggle girls. "Mirianda, Malum, go with miss…" I glanced up at her.

"Annenia Evers. Oh, last names are so formal, just call me Anne." She told me, smiling.

"Miss Evers." I turned back to my son, who stared at me, then up at her. He nodded and stood, brushing his black trousers off. Mirianda followed suit.

"Have they any fresh clothes?" Annenia asked, putting a gentle hand on Malum's shoulder, a touch he shied away from no matter how soft.

"I expect, but not many, we'll be saving them for when we reach our destination." I replied, to which she nodded.

"Come along now dears." She said to the four children, who followed her out.

I watched Mirianda and Malum until they disappeared. I looked back down in frustration at Bellatrix who was still fast asleep, and, once again, had to fight the impish urge to shove her off my lap. "That's a good one you got there, mate." Randy commented. I looked up at him, wondering how on earth he could possibly have come to that conclusion.

"She sleeps a lot, if only I could get Annenia to sleep more, she drives me crazy sometimes, know what I mean? Women and their yapping." he chuckled, then lit a muggle thing that was about as long as a child's finger. It blew smoke into the air. I made a face, turning away and holding my breath. The smell, though horrendous, was effective in finally waking Bellatrix. She sat up, glaring at me and fixed her hair which was haphazardly scattered over her head.

I clutched little Lumin, as she was still asleep.

Bellatrix coughed, waving a hand in front of her face. "What are you doing?" She cried, glaring at the muggle.

"Having a smoke?" He said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Oh, sorry, you want one?" He stared reaching into his pocket and we both shook our heads quickly. "I'll just go smoke out in the lane then." He murmured, exiting and 'having a smoke' outside the door.

Instantly, Bellatrix cast a silencing spell around the compartment and turned to me. It was the first time we'd been alone since the start of the train ride.

"Where are the Dark Lord's prizes?" She demanded, even though Lumin had a better chance of being 'the Dark Lord's Prize' than Malum and Mirianda did.

"Crack the window first, I can't breathe, and I expect Lumin can't either." I growled, watching as Lumin's pretty little face scrunched up slightly and she let out a small cough.

Bellatrix glared at me, then cracked the window as far as it would go, which was only about an inch, though effective in eradicating the smell. She turned back to me questioningly, her jaw set in a firm line.

"They're in the lavatory with the muggle woman." I told her calmly.

"With the muggle? You let them go alone, with the _muggle?" _She cried, looking and sounding furious and waking Lumin with her shout.

"Calm yourself, Bellatrix, they're in good hands." I didn't stop to question the sudden trust I put in Annenia, a muggle of all beings as I fixed Lumin's dress, which had ridden up in the night as she slept.

Bellatrix merely snorted and folded her arms, slumping in the seat and staring ahead crossly. "Fafar? What is it morning?" Lumin asked, yawning and rubbing her eyes.

"Yes, Lumi. It's morning." I told her softly, using my nickname for her, the one that Bellatrix despised. "What did you do to Malum yesterday?" I demanded, looking up at Bellatrix as I suddenly remembered and wanted to ask before either I forgot, or someone came back in.

"I merely punished him for acting the way he was." She replied haughtily. She shifted, glaring at muggles as they walked down the corridor past our door. "Honestly, if you think I'm spending another two days with these filthy muggles, you most certainly are wrong." She hissed. "And about the one's we are currently sharing a space with? I am _not _going to their home, unless you are intending to burn it, otherwise, I refuse." She told me, green eyes flashing defiantly.

"I'm afraid, my dear Bellatrix, I have already agreed to go and _look." _I emphasized the word when she gave me a horrified look.

"You seem under the impression that you're in charge here!" She cried.

"That, my darling, if because I _am_." I replied evenly. She clenched her fists and I saw her reaching for her wand. I grabbed her hand and stuffed it down into her lap as Annenia was returning with four children with wet hair.

I stared a Malum, not remembering the last time he had bathed at all. His skin now had an eerie glow to it, since it was clean. It was no longer a dull white. Mirianda herself looked a little more normal next to her sickly little brother, her long, stick straight black hair pulled back from her face neatly, but allowed to hang loose in the back.

"Your son picked up a right bit of dirt in his hair, he must have been playing an awful lot before you left yesterday." Annenia said cheerfully as she plopped down. "I can never understand how children can get themselves so dirty, but then, they enjoy it, don't they?" She laughed merrily, her blue eyes lighting up.

Bellatrix glared at me and seemed to say, 'she's a lunatic' I could practically hear her unspoken words, as they sounded just like something she would say. I wanted to tell her that, in comparison to herself, Annenia was normal. Bellatrix was the lunatic.

Bellatrix shoved my hand away and I realized it was still on hers in her lap. I moved it and put it back around my daughter's shoulders and stared at the children as they played. Lumin also was watching them with great interest. She had never met any other children besides her siblings and Draco.

"Malum, come here. Mummy wants to see her son." Bellatrix held out her arms. Mirianda and Malum looked up from the muggle toys the girls had been showing them. Malum stood up slowly and came over to his mother uncertainly, his sister watching him from behind, a look of suspicion and worry on her face. Bellatrix pulled her son into a warm embrace, one of which Malum leaned away from whole-heartedly.

I saw Bellatrix whispering something into Malum's ear, but I didn't hear it, I only saw Malum's body grow more and more rigid with each word. Finally, Bellatrix let go of him, but he was frozen to the spot. He didn't move. Bellatrix gave him a shove and he stumbled over to the muggle girls, giving Bellatrix an uncertain glance that had a mixture of emotions behind it. One of which, I recognized as fear, another was most definitely hatred.

Silently, I wondered what she had told him. He sat down next to his sister who put her arms around him and whispered into his ear. He listened to her, then nodded and hugged her back. They then rejoined the game the muggle girls were playing. I looked up when Randy came in at that moment, apparently done 'having a smoke'. Whatever that meant.

I excused myself, not entirely feeling safe leaving Bellatrix alone with the muggles, but not seeing any alternative, other than taking Bellatrix with me to the lavatory –which was not an option- so I left her there, along with Lumin and Mirianda, whom I knew Bellatrix would never dare harm. Malum, however… I constantly feared for his safety.

**AN: So, what'ya think? Are they all in character? Oh, and for those of you wondering, yes, Malum ****_is _****Falin, if you'll remember from 'The Boy No One Knew' what Falin said? 'Falin Cerenbus, is not my birth name, it is in fact Malum Lixam'. Just wanted to make sure you realized that. ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter four:**

** Last Day on the Train; Muggle Home**

**POV: Malum Lixam Snape **

**(Falin Cerenbus)**

I stared after father as he left. I glanced uncertainly up at Annenia. She smiled down at me lightly, then turned to mother. "So, tell me, miss… um…" She thought for a moment, but couldn't seem to remember mother's name.

"Bellatrix." She offered flatly.

"Ah yes, Bella...trix…" She smiled, clearing her throat and crossing her legs, resting her hands gently on her knees. "What do you do for a living?" She asked. I was curious as to how mother would reply to such a question, considering what she did was murder people. She couldn't very well go and say that, now could she?

"I… don't, have a job…" She said uncertainly, fiddling with the hem of Lumi's dress.

"Oh, what about your husband, does he have a job?" She asked.

"Yes, he's just become a professor at Ho- um a school." Mother stared out the window, chewing on her lip. I wondered how hard it was for her to hold this conversation, with a muggle no less, and not be able to taunt and murder them. Silently, I hoped mother would never get the chance later, as I really enjoyed their company.

"A professor? Wow, that's impressive." Annenia smiled.

"Ha! I'd hate to be one of his students, huh Anne? He's an intimidating bloke, there now, ain't he?" Randy laughed. I heard mother laugh unenthusiastically along with them. I turned to see father had come back in, looking tidy and orderly. His hair wasn't wet though, so he had probably used magic to clean himself.

"Bella, _dearest, _why don't you and Lumin go wash up now?" Father suggested, his voice dripping with apathetic loving kindness that only I, mother and Mirianda caught. Mother sent him a glare as she walked out, holding Lumi in her arms.

"So, a professor, eh?" Randy began, smirking.

"You must love children." Annenia smiled dreamily.

I saw father's face twitch, though only slightly. "Indeed." He growled dryly.

I let a tiny smirk touch my lips for no more than a second, glancing at Mirianda who looked back at me, the same look on her face, and then our face's were blank again. I knew how wrong that was. Father despised children.

"Where did you two meet? You and Bella." Annenia asked. I saw father shift in his seat and I felt his annoyance boiling up in his mind, but he was doing a good job of hiding it. As always.

"In school." He replied, quite truthfully, though the words he left unspoken were many.

"Oh! How romantic! I love young love!" Annenia giggled like a giddy school girl, grinning. I felt my father's annoyance rise a few levels. I heard his unspoken words that were burning on his tongue, but he held them back. Many of which consisted of, 'I don't love her' and, 'I loved someone else'. His biting sorrow hurt to witness, though he didn't show it outwardly.

Honestly, I wished he would say it out loud. I wanted to hear it as much as he wanted to say it. But he held his tongue. Just then, mother came back in, looking more tidy, but her hair was still spilling from her head in an almost unmanageable heap. Lumin looked absolutely adorable in her little black dress, her dark hair more orderly and spilling from her head in the same beautifully untidy curls the way mother's was. Mother sat down and stared out the window, holding Lumin in her lap. I could feel her frustration and hatred towards the muggles.

"Mum, when are we going to eat?" Susan asked.

"Soon, dearest, soon." Annenia replied, stroking her daughter's pretty brown hair.

Susan's face lit up and she turned back to me. "Hey Malum, Mirianda, you wanna go walk up and down the aisle? Mum, can we?" She asked. I blinked, glancing at father, wondering if he'd let me.

"Sure, just walk in front of the door every few minutes so I can see you, and stay away from strangers." Annenia replied.

"Yay! Come on!" The girls jumped up and grabbed mine and Mirianda's hands, though I pulled back, staring at father questioningly.

He thought for a moment, then nodded reluctantly. Mirianda and I smiled and followed the girls out. We ran quietly up and down the corridors for a few minutes, then chose a small rack of suitcases and belongings to hide under. The girls giggled and snuggled towards the back. I huddled in the front, my dark clothing and hair blended well with the bags.

"This is the perfect hang out!" Kelly, the oldest of the four of us whispered excitedly.

"Yeah!" Susan agreed. They talked excitedly for a while and I just listened. After a while, Susan turned to me. "Hey Malum? How come you never talk?" She asked.

I blinked, staring at her for a moment, then shrugged.

"Can you? I mean, if you wanted to, could you?" Kelly asked.

I shrugged again.

"Did you used to talk?" Susan cocked her head and stared at me with her pretty blue eyes.

I nodded slowly.

"He never talked much." Mirianda admitted quietly, her voice only slightly raspy, as she didn't talk much either, not feeling the need as it never got her anything from mother but annoyance, and father just ignored it.

"I thought you guys were vampires, when I first saw you. You're so pale and all, and you wear all black." Susan admitted sheepishly, blushing.

I smiled, amused.

Kelly giggled. "Susie was convinced our neighbor was a Werewolf for the longest time." She laughed.

I gave her a grin. "What made you think that?" I asked in a hoarse, unused voice. All three girls seemed surprised I had spoken, especially Mirianda, who hadn't heard me speak in nearly three years.

Kelly recovered the fastest. "So you _can _talk, you just haven't wanted to!" She cried.

I blushed slightly and stared at the floor, wondering what had prompted me to speak.

"How come you don't talk? You gotta answer, cuz we know you can now." Susan smirked.

"I don't know, it's safer that way. Let them think I can't talk, and they might forget I'm there." I whispered, my voice raspy from disuse.

Kelly tipped her head. "How come?" She asked.

I looked away, not answering. "You never told me why you thought your neighbor was a Werewolf." I pointed out, changing the subject.

"Oh, right, well, he was super hairy, and he always ate meat-"

I cut her off. "By that logic, my house-elf could be a goblin just because he's short and has pointy ears, Werewolves aren't distinguishable by their features and characteristics, they look like normal, everyday people." I told them, ignoring the look Mirianda gave me.

They were staring at me now, eyes wide. "Y-you mean, they _actually _exist?" Kelly stammered.

"Of course they do." I replied matter-of-factly. They turned slowly to look at each other, then back at me, eyes wide, agape.

"What about banshees? And vampires?"

I nodded and Mirianda shook her head 'no' rapidly.

"And ghosts? And witches?"

Nod.

"No." Mirianda cut in quickly, but all three of us ignored her.

"Or goblins and dragons?"

Nod.

"No."

"What about unicorns? Or Pegasus'?"

I nodded again. "All real." I told them.

"Whoa…" They said at the same time.

"I knew it!" Susan squealed.

"How do you know all this stuff?" Kelly asked, ignoring her sister.

"Because I'm a Wizard." I told them.

"No way." Kelly snorted, crossing her arms.

"I am, I swear!" I told them, once again, ignoring Mirianda as she desperately sent me hand signals that I assumed meant she didn't want me to continued, but I did anyway.

"Prove it." Kelly challenged, harder to convince than her sister.

"Fine, I will." I drew out my wand and looked around.

"What's that?" Susan asked.

"It's a wand, it helps a witch or wizard harness their magic. I'm not supposed to have one until I'm eleven, but mum got us some anyway." I told them, glancing at Mirianda as she did a face palm. "Here, watch this." I waved my wand. "Orchideous." In a flash, there was a bunch of flowers in my hand. I smiled and handed them over to the girls whose eyes were large. Orchideous was the only harmless spell I knew other than Lumos and a few necessary others. All the other's I knew were curses that were fairly harmful.

"Malum, what about the trace?" Mirianda hissed.

"Our existence was never documented, we don't have the trace on us." I replied and her face turned a bright red. She probably was embarrassed because she felt she should have known that.

"That's so cool! Let me try!" Kelly begged.

"You won't be able to do anything, you're not a witch." I told her, handing her my wand. She tried anyway, waving it the same way I had and saying the same word. Her shoulders slumped when nothing happened. I smiled and took it back. "Told you, you're just a muggle." I told her.

"A what?" Kelly and Susan asked at the same time, looking up.

"Non-magic folk." I told her, waving my hand dismissively. Susan made a face that somewhat resembled a fish, and I suppose she was trying to pout.

"Are you a wizard too?" Kelly asked, turning to Mirianda.

Before she could reply, I cut in.

"No, she's a witch." I told them and they both gasped.

"That's not nice thing to say!" Kelly cried.

I was puzzled. Was witch a derogatory term in the muggle world? "Well, no, she's like a sorceress." I replied.

"Do something else!" Susan begged.

"Lumos." I made the tip of my wand glow.

"Whoa… cool." She breathed.

"Nox." I turned the light off.

"Make Kelly disappear." Susan begged.

"Hey!" Kelly cried.

I laughed. "Sorry, I don't know how to do that yet, it's an advanced spell." I told her.

"What else can you do?" Kelly asked.

I shrugged. "Obliviate!" With that, I had erased everything I had just told them, including me talking, knowing that father and mother would be very displeased. Mirianda shot me a relieved look.

"That's odd, I just lost my train of thought." Kelly furrowed her brow, then shrugged. "What were we talking about again?" She asked.

I shrugged. It had felt good telling someone my secret. I had wanted to for a long time, but had never gotten the chance to.

I decided we'd been gone long enough, and I made sure to tell them that by crawling out from under the luggage rack and standing.

"Malum, where you going?" Kelly asked as she crawled out behind me. I grabbed her sleeve and pointed toward the compartment, leaning in the direction. "He's right, we should be getting back." Kelly looked down at her sister.

"Aw." She sighed.

"Come on, I'm hungry anyway." Kelly murmured. Mirianda followed us, coming up beside me and shooting me a look that clearly said 'that was foolish and you know it'. I glared back in reply.

Just as we were approaching the door, Annenia's head poked out. "Oh, there you are, dears. Come on then, it's time to eat!" She called. We ran the rest of the way to her and went in. "The trolley was just by, I hope you like what we have, because we aren't getting anything else until tomorrow." Annenia warned, sitting down.

I sat down next to father and he handed me a plain muggle sandwich with… cheese? I pried the bred apart and sniffed the yellow slab, making a face. They should know better than to feed me this, the last time I had any kind of dairy, I was sick for a week.

"Don't be so picky, eat it or go hungry." Mother warned. Lumin was sitting on her lap, munching happily at another muggle sandwich. I glanced at Mirianda, who was tentatively chewing on a similar muggle food item. I set mine down, glaring at mother. "Have it your way." She snorted, grabbing the sandwich and stuffing it into her bag.

"Oh, he can have some of my salad." Annenia offered. I looked forward eagerly.

"Not a chance." Mother grumbled around the bite she was taking of her sandwich. "If he's going to be picky, he must learn he can't always get his own way." She went on, chewing. I looked pleadingly at father, who sat silently, victim of our argument by sitting between us. He was chewing solemnly, staring at the floor.

"Don't look at me like that, Malum, you know your mother always gets her way." He told me without looking up. I made a face and looked away, sulking. After a while, my stomach started berating me for not eating what I had been offered. I slumped my shoulders and silently reached over my father's lap, ignoring his glare at how rude it was to reach over someone.

Silently, mother pulled the crumbling, squished sandwich out of her bag and slapped it into my waiting palm. Half of it had been ripped off and given to Lumin, who had already finished it. I made a face as I pealed the cheese off and dropped it in Mirianda's lap, making her squeal. I took a bite of the plain bread and made another face. I had finished it in only a few bites, and was looking for more. Everyone had finished theirs. When I realized that was all, I slumped down in my seat, glaring at the floor.

I was still hungry, but I was used to going hungry at meals by now. However, in the presence of the muggles, they couldn't very well deny me food, now could they?

I stared at my father until I caught his eyes, and even then, I didn't stop staring. "What?" He asked, barely hiding the irritation behind his voice. I didn't reply, I just kept staring.

Mother leaned forward, peering at me from around father, her arms wrapped around Lumin, who also stared at me curiously. "What is he doing?" Mother asked. Father just shook his head and rolled his eyes, looking away.

I started poking him in the arm, over and over and over, despite Mirianda trying to get me to stop, knowing I would get in trouble if I didn't. "What, Malum?" he turned to me, this time not hiding his aggravation. I opened my mouth and pointed to it, then rubbed my stomach. Father furrowed his brow, annoyed that I'd found a way to communicate without speaking. Lumin giggled, clearly amused by me.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but we have no more food, you'll have to be content. And Malum, I know you can talk, if you want something, ask for it." He told me sternly, and I glared at him furiously, slumping in my seat and crossing my arms. I knew I'd be in for some extreme punishment for the strife I'd been giving them in the presence of the muggles, but I silently hoped it would be worth it.

After a few minutes, I felt a longing for some love and attention. I moved over to mother and crawled into her lap next to Lumin, surprising them both. I yawned, curling up and leaning on her shoulder, carefully clutching a handful of her long, curly black hair. She stared down at me, still slightly surprised, but loathe to push me away from her in front of the muggles, so she wrapped her arms around me and held me instead. I smiled and pulled my little sister closer, who was also in mother's lap. Lumin smiled and crawled on top of me, wrapping her little arms around me and resting her head on my chest. I smiled, hugging her.

Mirianda, not wanting to be left out of the hugging session, turned to father and slid closer to him, leaning into him and smiling as he reluctantly put his arms around her.

I sensed the thoughts in mother's mind, ranging from, 'this isn't as bad as I thought it would be, maybe we should do this more often' to 'stupid little brat, I'll kill him for this'.

I ignored her thoughts and smiled, clinging to my mother and little sister, knowing this quite possibly could be the only time I would ever be able to hug mother, and her hug me back.

**POV: Severus Snape**

I was rather startled to see Malum willingly go to his mother, and even more surprised that Bellatrix hadn't immediately shoved him away. But then, she wasn't stupid, and to shove your child away when they so openly wanted love, and to do so in front of these muggles, would be very stupid indeed.

I sensed the livid anger rolling through Bellatrix' mind as she stared out the window, and I felt a mixture of other things, annoyance, a twinge of regret, motherly love was even present, but it was overpowered by her anger and annoyance. Silently, I wondered what kind of a mother she might be capable of being if she tried, but I knew she had no desire to be a mother.

She just wasn't a motherly person, despite the love and attention she gave Lumin. And I, myself was certainly not a fatherly person at all, and felt rather uncomfortable with my arms around Mirianda, who had curled up to me since her siblings were doing the same with their mother. I had never liked children, and having one so close was unnerving to say the least.

That night was as cramped and uncomfortable as the night before, and I woke up stiff and sore in the middle of the night, very glad it was the last day of travel.

Bellatrix, against all odds, had once again found me to be a comfortable pillow, and Mirianda was contentedly wrapped in her arms, sleeping on top of her as though she were a bed, Malum in Mirianda's arms and Lumin curled in Malum's arms, those two also using their mother as a bed. I had probably slept in the least comfortable position of the five of us, with my back against the side of the chair, my legs stretched out on the bench and on either side of Bellatrix as she too was stretched out on the bench, her head resting lightly on my chest, the weight of all four of them on top of me making my legs numb.

I made a face, knowing that if I were any other person, I would never let her live this one down.

Bellatrix Lestrange, using Severus Snape as a pillow. Good grief, what had the world come to?

I rolled my eyes and shifted slightly, loathe to wake her. I looked over to see the muggle family with similar sleeping arrangements, Randal in the back, his wife sleeping just in front of him, using him as a pillow, their oldest daughter just in front of her, and the youngest on the very top. It looked uncomfortable to say the least, but… they looked happy… together. Like a family. They seemed to make the awkward resting position work and look less… awkward.

I sighed, pushing some of Bellatrix' hair away from my face. Silently I wondered about us. I thought to myself, that, we could have been a family, had we been anyone but ourselves. We could have loved each other, Bellatrix and I. Once again, were we anyone but who we are.

I myself only despised Bellatrix, because she despised me. And of course, because she was arrogant, rude, snappy, childish, vile, cruel, hateful and just out right insane at… most, times, and she clearly thought the same of me. And yet, as I lay there quietly, feeling the train moving beneath us, and watching dark trees fly past the window, I pulled her and my children closer, feeling the need to protect them.

The next morning, I woke, and Bellatrix was gone, but in her place, was Malum, curled up in my arms, the side of my cloak pulled up and wrapped around his small body. I felt one of his arms wrapped behind my neck, and his little head rested lightly on my shoulder, his midnight hair brushing gently on my chin every time his head rose with my chest as I breathed.

I moved into a sitting position, putting my feet down on the floor, moving softly and holding Malum carefully so he wouldn't wake. I saw Randal smile at me across from where I was sitting. He too, was holding a sleeping child; Susan.

Annenia smiled and stood, leaning down in front of me to smile at Malum's sleeping face, which was peeking out from under my black cloak. The boy's pallid face was wreathed in his feathery midnight hair. Annenia smiled, staring at him. "He's beautiful." She whispered to me, gently pushing aside a lock of his hair that had fallen over his closed eyes.

I stared down at him too, from a father's perspective for possibly the first time ever. "Yes, he is." I agreed quietly, having never really thought about it before, but she was right. He may have been an odd-looking little thing, pale skin and black hair and eyes, but he was, indeed, a beautiful child.

Just then, Bellatrix ruined the whole fatherly moment that I had experienced for the first time in my life simply by entering, as she held about her and air of mockery. Annenia moved away and sat down, smiling at Bellatrix. "You have a beautiful son." She told her. Bellatrix plopped down beside me, Lumin in her arms and looking squeaky clean, Mirianda following her in and sitting down next to me.

"Are you talking about the same boy I gave birth to?" She asked, raising an eyebrow, craning her neck to peer at the sleeping boy.

Annenia's smile faltered for a moment. "Well... yes-" She began.

"Oh, right, yeah… I guess." There was no love or caring behind Bellatrix' flat voice as she stared at her daughter who was playing with her mother's hair. "When's this bloody train stopping? I'm really starting to get tired of it." Bellatrix grumbled.

I sighed, wishing for a moment that she would stop taking life for granted and start living in the moment, enjoying the little gifts the day brings. I myself have not been known to do that, but… I was learning that was the best way. I looked back down at my sleeping son, once again registering the fact that he was indeed _my son. _

Bellatrix stood, setting Lumin down, stretching her limbs and snooping around in my bag up on the rack. I sighed. "Bella, sit down. If the train were to stop suddenly-" Speak of the devil, the train stopped and she was knocked from her feet straight into me by the sudden halt. She scrambled to her feet, grumbling and snatching her bag from the rack. I looked down at Malum, who had been startled awake by his mother falling onto us. I glanced over at Lumin and Mirianda, who were also startled, but both looked fine.

The rest of the day was spent on the train, with as little talking as possible, but the day went by fast. Bellatrix had hoped the train had been stopping to let us off, but it had only been a pack of wild… something or other's had been in the way, and, the train had resumed travel again after the animals had been moved.

It was late in the night when the train finally reached the station. Malum had fallen asleep in my arms again, and Lumin in Bellatrix', Mirianda curled up next to me, sound asleep with her head in my lap, hugging her brother's arm.

I raised an eyebrow, then decided to go ahead and let Malum sleep a bit longer. I stood, waking Mirianda and shifting Malum in my grasp so I was holding him with one arm looped around his small waist. He opened his eyes, half-waking briefly enough to wrap his arms around my neck and legs around my waist as far as the short little things would reach.

Randal, too was carrying Susan, and Annenia was holding Kelly's hand. Kelly rubbed her eyes, looking bleary and tired. Bellatrix was forced to carry little Lumin, as well as her own and Malum's bag, but Malum's bag small and very light, though she made it a point to grumble about it anyway. Mirianda carried her own bag, her free arm wrapped around my arm that held my bag.

"Okay, follow us." Randal told us. I nodded and we made off behind them, pushing through the crowd of lethargic people who had just woken and were getting off the train. As soon as we left the train station, we found out just how late it was. It was pitch black out on the streets, with exception of a few street lights.

The night air was frigid, and I felt Malum's cold fingers pressing lightly against my neck, sending chills down my spine that had absolutely nothing to do with how dark the alley was. I shifted Malum in my grasp, sub-consciously holding him tighter and gripping the handle to my bag a bit tighter too, pulling my arm out of Mirianda's grasp and instead reaching around her to usher her forward so she was in front of me where I could see her. "This way, folks, keep up." Randal was calling.

We hurried to catch up to him. "We aren't actually riding in that… thing, are we?" Bellatrix cried.

"Don't tell me you've never ridden in a car before?" Annenia asked, throwing the bags into the back.

"Well… of course I have! I just…" Bellatrix snapped her mouth shut, not finding anything useful to say. She set her jaw in a grim line and climbed in the back seat, looking seconds away from killing something as she rocked Lumin in her grasp gently. I climbed in beside her uncertainly, then moved over some to let Mirianda and Kelly slip in beside me. Muggles really did have some strange forms of transportation.

"Lap belts, everyone." Annenia reminded, pulling a strange strap from her seat and buckling it on the other side. I looked on both sides of myself before I found it, and I saw Bellatrix searching for hers as well.

Kelly gave us both a strange look, as she had already fastened hers. She and Mirianda had to share one, as there were only three seats in the back. "Here we go." Randal started the thing and it roared to life and began moving. I found riding in it was similar to riding in a train, only the space was much more confined, it was bumpier, and it wasn't as fast.

Mirianda leaned against me and I raised my arm and put it around her, closing my eyes and allowed the rhythm of the slightly bumpy road lull me. I must have fallen asleep sometime during the ride, because before I knew it, I was being woken by Kelly. "Wake up, mister, we're here." She told me, sounding tired.

I blinked several times, then began to move only to find something was holding me in place. I then remembered the 'lap belt' as Annenia had called it, and fumbled with it for a minute before it came loose.

Bellatrix was growling and yanking on hers, but it wouldn't free her. "Like this, Bella." I pushed the button and it came loose. She grumbled and opened the door, stepping out and stretching as best she could with Lumin in her arms. I slid out behind her, careful not to wake Malum who was still fast asleep. Kelly and Mirianda got out of the other side.

I handed Malum over to Bellatrix and helped Randal carry the bags into their home. It was indeed, rather large, though I couldn't make out any details in the darkness.

"Okay folks." Randal began quietly, mindful of the sleeping children being carried by their mothers. "The half of the house for rent is over this way." He led us over to a section of the house purposely made so that doors could be closed to the entire section for privacy of guests.

The second half had everything the first half had, a master bedroom, a small children's room, a small kitchen, sitting room and a lavatory. It was ideal for us, though Bellatrix couldn't wrap her mind around the idea of sharing it with the muggle family.

"Rent's twenty-five pounds per month." Annenia told us. I converted muggle money in my head and found it to be a reasonable price.

"Deal." I told him quietly, to which Bellatrix spun on me, seeming to have trouble balancing both children in her arms, even though neither was very heavy.

"What?" She hissed through clenched teeth. I turned to her, raising an eyebrow and placing a hand on Mirianda's shoulder as she stood in front of me.

"You heard me." I replied, walking around her, pushing Mirianda ahead of me, refusing to get into an argument with her in front of the muggles.

"Excellent! The girls will simply love having new friends to play with!" Annenia piped up happily, making Bellatrix give me a face that somewhat resembled 'gag me' when Annenia wasn't looking. I merely shrugged again.

"Well, we'll let you folks get settled, g'night." Randy smiled and closed the door that separated the two houses.

Bellatrix spun on me in an instant, eyes blazing. "Are you out of your twisted mind?!" She hissed, clutching Malum and Lumin so tightly they woke up and started whimpering. Bellatrix snapped her mouth shut, glaring at me as she tapped out of the room haughtily, gently placing Malum in the carefully made bed in the child's bedroom, then took Lumin up to the master bedroom and put her in that bed while I put Mirianda to bed with Malum. The two almost instantly feel asleep, snuggling together in the soft, cozy blankets.

When Bellatrix came back, I was waiting for her in the kitchen, arms crossed, a look on my face that clearly told her I didn't want to argue with her.

"Who do you think you are?" She blurted out angrily after casting a silencing spell on the room.

"Severus Snape-" I began cheekily, earning a frustrated scream from Bellatrix as she stomped her high-heeled shoe on the floor, filling the empty room with a resounding crack.

"Not what I meant, and you _know _it." She growled, clutching her wand angrily. I stared back at her evenly, knowing I was the only person in the world who could test her limits without breaking them. I let a small smirk play at the corner of my lips, only making her start whacking my arm angrily.

And, though it did hurt, it clearly wasn't as hard as she could hit. She stormed out of the room, slamming the door to the master bedroom, leaving the sitting room chair for me. I sighed and sat down in it, knowing it was going to be a long night.

**AN: Lol. I had fun writing that chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter five:**

**Breakfast; The Park**

**POV: Severus Snape**

"Wake up, you sleazy gizzard." Were the words I was awoken to. I could have lived with just the words, but Bellatrix, still peeved, would settle for no less than a slap to the face with a particularly hard book, letting it drop to my lap.

I blinked open my eyes to watch her stalk away, still seething from the argument the night before. I blinked several times, sitting up in the uncomfortable chair and taking in my surroundings. I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck and despairing that I'd never again sleep in a comfortable bed.

I looked down at the book she'd carelessly dropped in my lap. It was a muggle cookbook. Furrowing my brow, I picked it up, inspecting the cover, then turned it to look at the back. Did she honestly think _I _was going to make breakfast?

If she was under that impression, she certainly had another thing coming. Grumbling, I stood up, book still clutched in hand. I stalked into the kitchen to find her sitting at the table, eyes glued to the morning wizard paper, Mirianda and Lumin sitting across from her at the only other chair, sharing it. I dropped the heavy book unceremoniously over what Bellatrix was reading, tearing the paper, spilling her tea and making her yelp and jump back.

"What is the meaning of this?" I demanded as she stood up, frantically wiping the hot tea off her clothes.

She glared up at me. "I can't cook." She told me as if I should know, crossing her arms.

"And what makes you think that _I _can?" I inquired dryly.

A smirk played at her lips, one that I knew meant sly trouble. "No reason. Just, you know. You have to, because you live alone. And because the way you brew potions leads me to believe you could brew a half-decent meal." She told me, seductively, moving closer and walking her fingers up my chest. I raised an eyebrow at her. It still astounded me that she could go from angry one moment to crooning the next. Silently, I wondered what she felt she could accomplish by flirting with me, other than annoy me beyond measure, because she knew it did.

"I have a house elf you know. And I don't know what you're talking about." I replied evenly, ignoring her roaming hands as she moved to stand behind me and rest her chin on my shoulder.

"Well, I looked over that muggle book, and the instructions in it are quite clear," She continued in the low, silky voice. "more clear than your average potions book I might add." She purred.

I rolled my eyes as she slid her arms around my waist from behind, her chin still resting on my shoulder. I remand placid, my arms folded neatly over my chest. "Surely you could do this, itty bitty thing for me?" She whispered, right in my ear, making me wonder why the pure-blooded beauty even bothered with me, she knew I wasn't the type she could bat her eyelids at and get me to do anything she wanted.

I stared at her from the corner of my eye, not moving my head, my face blank as I tried to hide my annoyance. "Of course, my sweet." I intoned elegantly, knowing she'd slip some poison or other in the food if I refused and made her do it.

I saw her smirk from the corner of my eye and her arms moved away. "Wonderful, I'll go wake my…" She giggled in what she might think was a seductive manner, but will always be demented to my ears. "I mean, _our _son." With that, she glided out of the room, leaving me staring after her, wondering if she'd been dropped as a child, or if she was naturally that much of a trollop.

While mulling these things over, I scanned through the muggle cookbook and picked the only thing we had the ingredients required to make it, and got to work.

**POV: Bellatrix Black**

I smirked to myself, sauntering into Malum's room. I noted that he was still sleeping, so I sat lightly on the side of the bed, watching him for a moment.

I searched his small face, wondering if he truly was asleep. Perhaps he was merely luring me into a false sense of security so that he could strike at any moment? 'or maybe you're being stupid' my own voice shouted at me in my mind.

I listened to my thoughts as they angrily lashed out at each other, smirking when I got a good line in here and there. I was so caught up in my inner argument that I hadn't noticed Malum had awoken.

"Mother?" The timid voice penetrated my thoughts and the argument was forgotten.

A small smile played at my lips as I stared down at the pale child as he looked up at me uncertainly, black hair falling into his face. "It is time to wake, child." I told him smoothly, raising my chin in a superior poise.

He dipped his head and obeyed, sliding out of bed. He stood in front of me uncertainly, not daring to raise his eyes any higher than my knees. "Well, what are you waiting for?" I snapped, annoyed that there could possibly be something he wanted from me. He parted his thin, pale lips to speak, but nothing came out of them. He just snapped his mouth shut and shuffled backwards.

"Just waiting for you, mum." He murmured, his eyes flicking even further down to the floor. I stood airily, tapping out of the room ahead of him, only slightly aware of his small footsteps behind me.

"Food had better be ready, Severus, I'm hungry." I warned, entering the kitchen. I sat down, pulling my son over to sit on my lap since there were only two chairs. I would have allowed Malum to take the other seat, forcing Severus to stand, but the annoying half-blood prick was already seated, Lumin in his lap, Mirianda sitting beside him on a tall stool that had been dragged over from the sitting room.

"What's this?" I asked, looking down at the plate in front of me and instantly turning my nose up to the muggle food.

"Not a clue. Eat it." Severus replied flatly, chewing solemnly on his food and reading over the torn newspaper I had discarded earlier, and, to my further annoyance, sipping away at the tea I hadn't finished. I stared down at Malum as he eagerly dug in, not needing a second prompting. I glanced over at Lumin, who's food had been cut up into smaller pieces for her. She too, was eating eagerly. Mirianda, with less enthusiasm as her younger siblings, was also eating without question.

I shrugged, grabbing the flat muggle thing and made a face when it bent on both ends. "Like this, mum." Malum showed me, taking his fork and cutting off a corner of the flat, yellow thing. I picked up my fork and did the same thing he was doing and found it much easier.

It suddenly struck me that Malum was talking. I blanched and looked down at him, my face frozen mid-chew. I looked up at Severus, who had also frozen, mid-sip, staring at Malum who remained blissfully unaware that he had dumbstruck his parents. Mirianda had also frozen, staring at her little brother in an almost panic.

I twisted my neck to stare down at Malum's small face as he continued chewing quietly. It suddenly dawned on him that the room was entirely free of sound, so he looked up to see were all staring at him intently, eyes wide. He shrank back into me, looking guilty. Only Lumin seemed unaware of what was going on as she continued eating quietly.

"What?" He whispered hoarsely.

"So you're talking now?" I managed after forcing myself to swallow. He blanched, turning even paler than he normally was, if at all possible. He squirmed in my lap, staring at his hands as he set his fork down. Severus set the cup down and managed to swallow the liquid that was in his mouth.

"Malum, that's the first time you've spoken in at least three years!" He stated, eyes still wide. Mirianda stared at the half-finished food on her plate, not saying a word.

Malum squirmed in my lap again, face burning a dark shade of crimson. "I-I…" He stammered. Severus stood up, plucking Lumin off his lap and gently putting her down which forced her to kneel on the chair so she could reach her food. Severus then strode over to kneel in front of us, taking Malum's tiny hands in his large ones.

"It's alright, we aren't mad." He crooned. Malum nodded solemnly, staring at the floor.

"Why haven't you been talking?" I asked in a tone I hoped was gentle enough, no need to scare the brat into silence again, that would be rather unhelpful. Malum squirmed again and I wrapped my arms around his body to hold him still, as every time he squirmed, I felt his sharp tailbone dig further into my thighs, and it was becoming increasingly uncomfortable.

"Because, I was scared that if I talked, you'd notice I was there, get mad and hurt me." He whispered. Severus' eyes darted up to meet mine and I scowled at the look he gave me that clearly said, 'I told you so'

I pulled Malum into what I hoped was a motherly-enough hug, glaring at Severus over his head. Severus merely gave me a half-smirk and stood, moving back over to sit back down, Lumin back in his lap as he continued eating, reading, and monotonously sipping _my _tea. My face twitched and I finished my muggle-breakfast quickly, moving out of the seat and letting Malum have it when I was done.

Silently, I took mine, Mirianda's, Severus' and Lumin's empty plates and put them in the sink, then started looking around for the house-elf.

"Muggles don't have house-elves." Severus told me without looking up from his newspaper and I glared at him, clenching my fists, inwardly cursing his Legilimency.

"Fine." I muttered, going back to the sink and staring at the dishes. I scowled, sinking lower in the pits my mood. I angrily scrubbed at the dishes with a dry sponge, dropping them with a clatter onto the sink and noting that the food hadn't been removed, simply smeared further into the dish.

"Bloody conventional methods." I hissed.

"It may help to use soap. And water." Severus told me smugly, once again not looking up from his beloved paper. I clenched my fists, annoyed that he was the one throwing in all the hits today. I was supposed to annoy _him, _not the other way round.

"Well, if you're so smart, why don't you do it?" I ground out, throwing the dishtowel at him. He plucked it of his head and tossed it back at me.

"Because, I have to go out." He told me, folding the ripped paper neatly and taking a final sip from his cup before standing and pressing it into my hands, letting Lumin have his vacated seat.

"Have a great day." He told me, mock-sincerity, boldly putting his hands on my shoulders and taking advantage of my temporary stupor by planting a brazen kiss on my cheek. I flushed angrily, staring after him as he left, resenting how cheeky he was being today. I threw the towel down and dropped the cup in the sink, not bothering to try and wash it.

"Damn you, Severus." I muttered, my eyes trailing over to Malum as he finished his last bite. He looked just like his father, but of course, inherited _my_ good-looks, and dainty nose, thank Merlin. I had no desire to see my son running around wearing his father's honking muzzle.

"Come, Mirianda, Malum, Lumin." I stretched out my hand and the boy jumped up, brushing the crumbs off his face and out of his lap, then hurried over and slid his tiny, ice-cold hand into mine, followed closely by Mirianda. Lumin took a little longer climbing out of the chair and hurried to take my other hand. I walked with them out into the muggles hall, looking for the exit, Mirianda taking Lumin's other hand.

"Ah, miss Bella." I was met by Annenia, the annoying muggle woman. I feigned a smile. "Here's a key to the door, if you're looking to leave, I just gave one to your husband." She told me. She smiled down at Mirianda, Malum and Lumin, who stared up at her shyly.

"Yes, well, since Severus' gone who-knows-where, I was going to take Mirianda, Malum and Lumin to a park, is there one close by?" I asked, accepting the key and pocketing it.

"Yeah! I was about to take the girls to the park too, you can tag along." She told me brightly and I inwardly groaned.

I had been hoping for some time alone with my children, so I could drill into them the importance of curses, and why we thought muggles were inferior. But I merely faked a smile and nodded. "Girls, hurry up!" Annenia cried, looking up the stairs just as the two girls came thundering down, both wearing fresh, clean play clothes and had their hair pulled back neatly from their clean faces.

I glanced down at Malum's disheveled appearance and silently wondered if I, as his mother, was supposed to do something about it. Lumin looked no better with a dirty, wrinkled dress, and messy hair. Mirianda was the cleanest of the three, but then, she was old enough to do a few things for herself. "We'll just be a minute." I told her, pulling them back into our half of the house and steering them toward the bathroom.

"What's wrong, mother?" Malum asked curiously as I positioned them in front of the mirror and cocked my head uncertainly. I glanced up at my own appearance, the only thing I took care of. I was gorgeous, and I wasn't ever going to do anything to change that. I glanced back down at the small children and wondered if I should start doing the same for them.

Silently, I took a washcloth from the towel rack and wet it in the sink, then scrubbed at Malum's grey face until it was pink, making him scrunch up his nose. After the initial glow subsided, his face returned to a dull white and he blinked several times, staring up at me. I scrunched up my face and looked back up at myself. My hair, though untamed, was still neat and untangled.

I made a face and went through my toiletries, pulling out my hair brush and attacking Malum's helpless black tresses, surprising myself when I caught myself wishing they were curly, like mine, instead of straight and flat like his father's. I shook myself out of it and wet the brush, then pulled it mercilessly through his hair, earning squeaks and muffled yelps from Malum with each yank.

I sighed and looked at him now. His face was clean, but dull, his hair was wet and clung to his neck, and he was still wearing dirty clothes. I slumped my shoulders. This was exhausting! I performed a quick drying spell to his hair and brushed it again to get it as neat as possible, then did the same things to Lumin, washcloth, hairbrush. Then again to Mirianda, once again, surprising myself by wishing her stick straight hair was curly, like mine and Lumin's. I then pulled them into the bedroom and rummaged through their bags, pulling out a pair of worn, but clean black slacks and a battered, long-sleeved, button up black shirt for Malum, and a small black dress for Lumin and a bigger one for Mirianda.

I made a face and took in what they were already wearing. I then looked back at the other pitiful clothes and shrugged. At least they were clean. I helped them undress and then put on the clean clothes, then noticed Malum and Lumin's feet were bare. I made a face, now thoroughly irritated. Had they even been wearing shoes when we got here?

"Where are your shoes?" I asked. Malum turned, looking around, then pointed to the little black trainers that were worn and dirty. I did a quick spell that cleaned them off, but they were still well-worn. I helped him put them on, then grabbed the other pair and put them on Lumin. Mirianda was already wearing hers. I then took their hands and pulled them back out to the muggle hall.

"Annenia and the girl's are waiting outside for you." Randal told me, walking past. I ignored him and went outside, watching as the muggle woman pointed out something to her daughters.

"Ah, there you are." Annenia smiled up at me. I didn't reply as I sauntered down the front porch steps and along the drive-way. I stopped in front of her. She stared at my high-heeled boots, then looked back up at me, raising her eyebrows.

"What?" I asked defiantly, sticking out my chin, daring her to say something. Brazen woman did anyway.

"You're wearing high-heels to the park?" She asked, and I studied her flat-footed, boring old shoes.

"Why not?" I asked airily, stepping past her and taking in my surroundings, noting several neighboring houses that were spaced evenly from each other.

"I don't know, just seemed impractical." She murmured, shrugging and taking her youngest daughter's hand, then moving around me and changing the subject.

"Alright ladies, gentleman, let's go." She started walking and I followed her, soon learning why she thought heels were a bad idea. The uneven ground made it nearly impossible to walk, especially as Lumin begged to be carried, and yet, I sealed my mouth, frustrated that the muggle had been right.

"Here we are, run along and play dears." She finally said, and I looked up to see a dilapidated old park that already had some children playing in it. The muggle girls ran off eagerly to join the others, yelling wildly. Mirianda simply clutched my hand more tightly, and Malum moved closer to me and wrapped his arm around my leg and Lumin clung to me desperately, looking ready to cry, Mirianda and Malum hiding behind me.

I looked down at Malum and Mirianda, awkwardly patting their heads. "Go… play." I told them haltingly, as I had never told them to do that before. They looked up at me uncertainly and I nodded. They smiled and let go of me, moving to join the girls shyly.

I sighed and plopped down on an old bench and Annenia did the same. I was loathe to be in her company, so I just kept my eyes on Malum and Mirianda as they played, holding Lumin carefully in my lap, as I wasn't sure she was old enough to play with them.

**POV: Malum Lixam Snape**

**(Falin Cerenbus)**

I wandered shyly over to Kelly and Susan as they giggled and played with their friends. Silently, I begged them to introduce me, but they had hardly noticed I was even there.

So, I simply stood there in front of the swings, digging the toe of my trainers into the soft dirt, holding Mirianda's hand desperately. I was startled out of my thoughts when I felt a small hand coil round my other one.

"Come on, Malum, Mirianda, come meet our friends!" It was Susan. I grinned at her broadly, following her as she pulled me over. I stood carefully beside her, stared up at the other children, my hands clasped firmly behind my back, Mirianda at my side, her hand resting comfortingly on my shoulder

I studied the children carefully. One was a boy who looked about Kelly's age, but was taller with shocking blue eyes and dark brown hair. Another looked younger than us, but was rather chubby with brown eyes and messy blonde hair. And the third, a girl, had honey-colored eyes with very light brown hair, almost the same color as her eyes.

"Malum, Mirianda, this is Richard," The tall one. "Gregory," The chubby one. "And Molly." Obviously, the girl. Kelly introduced us. I smiled shyly at them. "Guys, this is Malum, and his sister, Mirianda." She told them. They all stared at us. A short, skinny, black-haired, black-eyed, pale-skinned child who frighteningly resembled a phantom, and a taller, skinny girl with _long _stick straight black hair, green eyes, pale skin and a black dress. I felt awkward under their scrutinizing stares, and by the way Mirianda held herself, I knew she did as well.

They all muttered hellos and grudgingly accepted us, since Kelly and Susan did.

"Alright, she can be part of the gang, but _he_ has to prove himself first. All boys do." Richard said, crossing his arms over his chest. I stared at him uncertainly, wondering what he wanted me to do. The boys glanced over at the only two mother's who were there, and also seemed deep in conversation.

I furrowed my brow, wondering what my mother could possibly have to say to a muggle. I shrugged it off and turned back to Richard and the others. "This is great guys, now there's three girls and three guys." Gregory pointed out, counting us for emphasis.

"No, you counted wrong, there's four girls and three guys, stupid." Richard corrected, and Gregory only shrugged. Richard, who was the oldest, seemed to be the ringleader. They all listened to him, following him around without question.

Gregory, the youngest, seemed to be at the bottom of the pack. At least, until I showed up. Richard jerked his head up at where my mother and Annenia sat. "That your mum?" He asked. I nodded, looking at her, then back at him. I wondered why he asked, but he didn't say anything further about it. "What, should we have little Malum do?" Richard asked, his eyes gleaming with mischief. I swallowed as the children seriously considered this, talking amongst themselves in hushed tones.

Mirianda pulled me closer, leaning down slightly to whisper in my ear. "It's alright." She murmured. I leaned into her, finding comfort there.

"How about, you scare your mum with…. That spider." He pointed at a particularly large spider that had woven a web around the bars of the slide. I stared at it, knowing that tiny little thing wouldn't frighten her in the least. I raised an eyebrow and looked back at him.

"She's not afraid of spiders." I told him in a hoarse voice. Kelly and Susan seemed surprised I'd spoken, but didn't say anything about it, and Mirianda only pulled me closer.

"Seriously? I my mum's terrified of them." Gregory piped up, earning a glare from Richard.

"Belt up, Greg." He spat.

"Sorry, Rich." Greg murmured.

"Just do it, I guarantee she'll freak." Richard told me. I sighed, rolling my eyes, then went over to the spider. I took it in my bare hands –a motion that made the girls gasp and the boys look slightly impressed- and crept up behind the bench mother was sitting on.

I caught snippets of their conversation, they were mainly talking about… children? And… being good mothers? I made a face, wondering what had brought this conversation on, and why my mother had stuck with it. Lumin was in mother's lap, playing with her hair again. Silently, I hoped the spider wouldn't crawl onto Lumin, I didn't want her getting hurt. Mother, on the other hand, would be fine.

I felt the spider move in my hands and looked down at it, then up at my mother. Careful as to not alert my mother of my presence, I slid the spider onto her shoulder, then dashed back to the others. We all were silent, listening to their conversation.

"Yes, I agree. I- oh, Bella? Uhm, Bella!?" Annenia cried, her voice becoming high-pitched and desperate.

"What?" The smile that had been playing at mother's lips instantly vanished and she jumped to her feet too, startling Lumin.

"Spider! On your shoulder! Huge!" Annenia shrieked. Mother took in her words quickly, and in one swift-movement, she flicked her hand over her shoulder, knocking the damnable thing to the ground.

The boys were snickering at Annenia's reaction, but disappointed –and slightly impressed- at mother's. I smiled, pleased my mother had kept her composure, as usual. "Told you so." I turned to the boys.

"Brill! Mate, you're mum's ace." Richard praised, slapping me a little-too hard on the back and causing the breath to be knocked out of me as I stumbled forwards slightly and chuckled self-consciously.

After that, the kids accepted me and let me do fun stuff with them. We hunted for rocks in the bed of the nearby stream, searched for rare flowers in the fields, and threw stuff at annoying birds and squirrels. For the first time in my life, I felt normal.

**POV: Severus Snape**

I had gone out for a long day of doing absolutely nothing. I had needed the break, but now, I was eager to get back and see how Bellatrix and the children were fairing with the muggle family. Or nervous to make sure she hadn't killed them at least.

I assumed Bellatrix had kept herself and the poor children locked up in our half of the house all day, sulking. I silently hoped she hadn't beaten Malum in her anger and boredom. The thought only made me walk faster.

I walked up the drive-way, pulling out the key Randal had given me, feeling odd to be just, going into another person's house without knocking or anything. And with a key no less. No one had ever given me such easy access to their home. Not even the Malfoy's, who had been so insufferably formal as to make everyone knock and be brought in by the house-elf. Bloody Malfoy's and their ridiculous top-class ethnicity.

It hadn't really arsed me, it had just puzzled me, because I had lived with them for a good six years. That was a long time of having to knock before entering. And here I was, standing on the porch to a house owned by a couple I had just met randomly on a train, who had completely trusted me with a key to their home.

I made a face and was about to put the key in the hole when something caught my attention. Not quite sure if what I was seeing was true or not, I quickly moved behind an old marble garden statue that was just beside the porch and watched from behind it with interest.

Bellatrix was walking side-by-side with Annenia, her hand clasped lightly around Malum's, Lumin in her free arm. Kelly and Susan were holding hands, and walking next to Malum, their mouths moving as if they were talking to him. And I noticed that he was talking back. Mirianda was walking one step behind Malum, her mouth moving too. The thing that drew my attention the most, however, was that Bellatrix looked strikingly beautiful. Why? Because the scowl she so often wore was not adorning her lovely features. Instead, it was replaced by a bright, sincere smile that I hadn't seen in a long, long time.

I was so astonished by the sudden change in her mood, that I almost forgot to hide myself as they walked past me up the drive and onto the porch. After they went inside, I waited several long minutes before deciding to follow them.

I found, that Bellatrix, Lumin, Mirianda and Malum hadn't retreated to our half of the house, as I had suspected they might, but rather had migrated to the kitchen of the muggles side. I joined them there, uncertainty hidden well from the muggles, but not from Bellatrix as she greeted me with an unexpected kiss, to the lips no less. I raised my eyebrows to her in question, but she chose to ignore it.

I turned to Malum and Mirianda and asked them how their day was. They proceeded to tell me –in detail- all that had been done. They were both talking excitedly, their voices jumbling into one mass of sound that I had trouble understanding, but from what I got from it, I knew they'd had a good day. Starting from making new friends, quickly skipping over putting a spider in 'mummy's' hair, to ending with now being a part of a gang called the Neighborhood Kids. Malum then went on to explain to me how 'kids' was spelled with a 'z' because it made it 'ace'.

I shook my head thoughtfully, pleased they seemed to be getting on so well, but I was still trying to get over the fact that Bellatrix was in such a good mood. The last muggle I had seen her talk to, was dead before he could reply to her interrogating. It puzzled me greatly.

After having dinner with the muggle family who had insisted upon it, we retired to our half of the house. As soon as I closed the door, I turned on Bellatrix with the same silent, raised-eyebrows question. She smirked at me and just shook her head, pushing two very tired looking children to their room, holding a fast asleep Lumin in her arms.

I proceeded to follow them, watching with interest as she took great care in helping Mirianda and Malum undress with one hand and slip into an over-sized shirt that I surmised had once been mine onto Malum, and an old, plain dress on Mirianda.

She even tucked them into bed, and, to put everything I had ever believed about her to question, she kissed their foreheads. I followed her out of the room, mind playing over what kind of scheme she could possibly be brewing in her pretty little head that would drive her to get along with a muggle, smile so sincerely, show affection to me and her children… what was she planning?

I finally had to know what she was up to, or I felt that I would explode, so, as soon as she reached the kitchen, I put a hand on her shoulder and spun her around to face me, looking down at her seriously.

"Bellatrix." I began seriously, using her full name.

Her smile faded as she stared up at me. "What?" She asked, reverting back to her old ways in the snappish way it came out. She turned her attention to Lumin who was still in her arms, only half-awake.

"I want to know what's going on." I told her quite plainly.

She turned away from me, smoothing the dishtowel over the table and occupying herself by folding it, unsuccessfully of course, as she was only using one hand. "…do I need a reason to be kind to my family?" She asked. The question surprised me.

"No…" I began uncertainly. "It's just, coming from you… it seems a bit… suspicious." I told her.

She rounded on me, her eyes blazing. "Is it wrong of me to suddenly love my own children? Or even my own children's father?" She demanded, her eyes softening and true question laying behind the blaze. I was taken aback, once again, by her question, and completely missed the part where she'd said 'love my children's father', which meant me.

"Of course not." I began carefully, resting a hand on her shoulder in a rather awkward attempt to sooth her. "In fact, I am completely in favor of the notion. It's just… what has brought this on so suddenly?" I asked, tilting my head slightly.

Her thick, dark lips turned into a pout. "I don't know." She whined, sounding rather childish, even for her. "This morning, I actually took in the fact that Malum was my son, and Mirianda and Lumin were my daughters, and… after watching the way Annenia cares for her daughters… I, wanted to do the same for my children." She told me quietly. "So, we went to the park, and… I put aside all my resentment with muggles, and just talked to her, mother-to-mother. And… she gave me a few pointers." She tilted her head and gave me a weird look. "So I'm trying something new, bite me." She seemed set on the false idea that I was against this. I wasn't. In fact, as I had told her earlier, I was all-for the idea.

I grabbed her wrist and kept her from turning away from me like she clearly wanted to. I intended to learn everything, but careful, as I was loathe to put her in a foul mood again.

Rather than getting upset, like would have been second nature to her, she simply stared up at me evenly, her lips set in a careful line, a firm wall surrounding her mind. I sighed, my grip on her wrist not loosening or tightening. I pulled her so she was completely facing me again.

"That, is… wonderful, Bella." I told her truthfully, letting a rare smile reward her for her efforts. She stared at me for a moment, then allowed herself to smile as well.

"You're a rare kind of man, you know that, Snape?" She teased, calling me by my last name.

"Is that so, Lestrange?"

I saw annoyance flash behind her eyes. "I'm not married to that prat anymore, my surname is Black." She told me, straightening and trying to stand a little taller.

"Whatever you say, miss Black." I told her, stepping closer so I was staring directly down at her with my eyes, my head held high to prove to her that I still towered over her by almost a head, and she was wearing heels. A smirk played at her lips, her bright green eyes staring at me as her head tilted down slightly.

"A very rare man indeed." She told me quietly, stretching as high as she could and planting a soft kiss on my cheek, then slipped her hand out of mine and padded quietly away, her hips swaying slightly as she climbed the stairs to the master bedroom, closing the door softly after flashing me a flirtatious smirk. I stared after her, shaking my head and letting out a short half-laugh.

"Bloody woman. I can't take much more of her." I murmured, moving into the sitting room, plopping down on the dratted chair and decidedly making myself believe it was comfortable.

"Her and her antics, I'm telling you." I muttered softly, closing my eyes and falling asleep.

**AN: LOL. I loved this chapter... I hope you do too. Speculate? What's going to happen next? :D**


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter six:**

**Worse Than We Feared**

**POV: Bellatrix Black**

I woke early the next morning in a surprisingly good mood. Narcissa had always told me, 'go to bed happy, you'll wake up happy' but of course, I had never believed her. Now that I found it was true, I found the surprisingly strong urge to go home and hug her.

I hopped out of bed, practically humming as I slipped into my clothes. I woke little Lumin and dressed her promptly after washing her face and brushing her hair. I opened the door and peeked downstairs. All was quiet. I went down slowly, passing the small sitting room into the kitchen, Lumin padding quietly behind me.

What I saw there, was about the most normal sight one could wake up to when they'd found themselves living with muggles, a very pale man who adored black, and your three young children, so I chose to ignore the abnormal atmosphere of it and joined the three at the breakfast table, where Severus adorned one end, and Malum sat at the other, two plates in front of him, Mirianda sitting on the stool in the middle again.

I glided over to them, well-aware that Severus' eyes were on me. For what reason, I couldn't be sure, but I kept my mind blissfully empty just to be sure.

"Morning." I said rather brightly, almost gagging myself as I slid into the seat after Malum had jumped up for me. He quite comfortably, and, on his own accord, slid onto my lap with no prompting from me. I rather found it both odd and nice to have my son come to me without question or hesitation. Lumin, who seemed to prefer Severus no matter how nice I was to her, slipped over to climb into her father's lap.

We ate in peaceful silence, only broken by the occasional clank of silverware upon glass or the rustle of paper as Severus flipped the page.

I noticed with a smile that, this morning, Severus had poured us two cups of tea, and hadn't tried to steal mine yet. Still, I drank it quickly just to be sure.

"May we go play with Kelly and Susan?" Malum asked timidly, turning in my lap to look at me with his empty black eyes. I stared into their depths for a moment, seeing innocence and childlike trust there that had slowly been building since we had moved in with the muggles only two or three days before. Mirianda was looking at me with the same hopeful expression. I wasn't sure how to respond, so I looked up at Severus, who was watching me carefully.

When I didn't reply, Malum and Mirianda turned to Severus, who nodded quickly to his children. Malum smiled and squirmed off my lap, running to the door and going out, Mirianda right on his heels, slamming it behind them. I sighed, collecting the plates and taking them to the sink, not bothering to even try to wash them, and, instead, flicked my wand to instantly clean them.

"You're very lazy." Severus told me dryly, washing his own plate the muggle way. I felt anger flair up an instant before I realized he had only been teasing. I softened slightly. But still, I wasn't about to let him get away with that.

"Lazy? Says the one who apparates everywhere he goes." I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning on the counter and watching him.

He allowed himself to smirk at me. "There are advantages to being a wizard, what's the point of walking when you can instantly be anywhere you want?" He told me, also crossing his arms. "Besides. You do it as well."

I smirked as well, turning and tapping away. I let out a startled cry and my face met the floor as I tripped over my own feet and hit the floor with a thud. Severus moved over and crouched down beside me. I made a face and turned over onto my back, staring up at him. He had his eyebrows raised, holding up a spike that I assumed used to be the heel of my shoe. I scowled, feeling embarrassment make my face burn.

"Walk much?" he asked smugly, feigning innocence.

I reached forward, snatching the heel from his hand. "I didn't fall. The floor looked lovely, so I… gave it a hug." I muttered, pulling my shoe off and inspecting the severed heel.

"Mummy! Are you okay?" Lumin rushed over from the table and threw her arms around my neck, hindering me more than anything.

"I'm fine, Lumi." I sighed, sitting up, prying her little arms from around my neck. "Bloody shoes." I muttered.

"Perhaps, they are unfit to wear for more reasons than one." Severus stated audaciously.

"Don't even go there." I told him as he helped me to my feet.

I glared down at the shoes, then the broken heel in my hand. I turned to glare at him until he realized his hand was still holding my arm where he'd grabbed me to help me to my feet. He removed his hand and crossed his arms. We stared at each other for a moment, making me feel uncomfortable.

I made a face and limped over to sit down at the table. "See now, you just made this incredibly awkward. Was that really necessary?" I asked him, pulling the other shoe off.

"How so?" he asked, moving over to lean on the table and watch as I attempted to mend the shoe.

"You gave me your opinion. Never do that to a girl, especially where shoes are concerned." I told him distractedly, trying a sticking charm and scowling when it didn't work.

"My opinion matters, I see no reason to keep it to myself." He replied smoothly.

"Of course your opinion matters, just not to me. You have a right to your own opinion, and I have a right to tell you how stupid it is." I replied absentmindedly, trying another charm.

He chuckled mirthlessly, muttering as he walked away.

"Don't walk away from me when I'm talking to you!" I called after him. He didn't reply. I huffed, my eyes going back to the helplessly broken shoe. I scowled at it, then threw it across the room, sighing and slumping in the seat.

**POV: Malum Lixam Snape**

"No, it goes like this." Susan corrected me as I tried to stick two small, colorful blocks together that she called 'legos'

"You sure you're normal kids? Cuz normal kids have played with legos before." Richard told me, sitting back on his heels.

I glared up at him and he smirked. "We happen to not have been spoiled with many toys." I told him quietly, my eyes going back to his little legos as we sat in his room. Mirianda wasn't having much luck with them either.

Annenia had taken us all over to hang out at the park, where we'd met up with Richard and he'd suggested we go to his house. I'd been reluctant, but agreed. Now, we were playing with his toys.

I tried once again with the little bricks, but they wouldn't cooperate with me. "Toys are useless. Now I know why mother and father never gave me any." I finally decided, dropping the bloody things. Mirianda agreed with me, also dropping her legos.

Greg snorted, shaking his head. "No, you think they're stupid because you don't know any better." He told me, admiring his little creation.

I glared at him, shaking my head. "Think what you want." I muttered, sitting back and crossing my legs.

"My dad's awesome." Greg cut in, changing the topic and seeming to not notice my bad mood. "His job is at a toy store in Dawnsbrook, I get as many toys as I want. And sometimes, I get defective ones. I think they're the best. This one time, I got an action figure with a deformed face. It was awesome." Greg boasted, laughing.

"My dad's way cooler than yours. He works in a lab, messing with dangerous chemicals." Richard piped up. "This one time, some guy was careless, and his face melted off." He wiggled his fingers in front of him, grinning wildly at the freaked out look Greg was giving him.

"Eww!" Molly shrieked, covering her face. Kelly and Susan yelped, clutching at each other. Mirianda and I stared around at them, eyes dull. Were they really frightened that much by something so silly? We'd seen worse things than that, and they were squealing, just thinking about it. They'd probably never actually seen anything like that.

Richard turned and wiggled his fingers in front of Mirianda's face. She narrowed her eyes at him and his face fell, then he smirked again and began wiggling them in _my_ face. I furrowed my brow, slapping his hands away. "What, you're not scared?" his face fell again and he dropped his hands, his shoulders slumping. I assumed he usually enjoyed freaking the younger children out.

"Not at all. I can tell you scary stories that'll haunt your nightmares forever." I told him quietly, inspecting a small lego brick and pretending to be engrossed in it.

"Have at it then." He invited, grabbing a pillow off his bed and hugging it, smirking at me, obviously believing I couldn't really live up to my word.

"What? Are you sure you want to hear stuff like that?" I asked, thinking about one thing in particular.

"Why not? Come on, give it a go." He told me. The girls huddled together, staring at me expectantly. Greg grabbed another pillow and hugged it too, also smirking.

"I really don't think it's a good idea…" Mirianda argued.

"Hush, let him tell the bloody story." Richard snapped.

Mirianda glared at him, then slid over to sit next to me and whispered in my ear. "Tell them the scariest one you know." She hissed.

I smirked mentally, then sighed, leaning against the side of Richard's bed and stretching my legs out. "Suit yourself." I mumbled. I began telling them, in detail, (hey, they asked for it, they're gonna get it!) about one of my many horror stories. By the end of it, I had the wimps shivering and clinging to each other, eyes wide. Even Richard.

He chuckled nervously at the end. "Cool story." he mumbled.

"It wasn't a story, that actually happened." Mirianda told them, quite truthfully. They all stared at us, jaws agape as if _I_ had just murdered all those people. I had left out the magic, and the part in the story where it had actually been my mother who had been killing all the people… but a story's a story, and it was still frightening.

"There's no way that can be real." Molly cried.

I nodded. "It is."

"Whhooaa…." Greg and Richard said at the same time, grins spreading over their faces.

I made a face at them. "It's not funny, it's disgusting." Mirianda cried as they started laughing.

"Okay, so let me get this straight. Nothing scares you anymore, because you've obviously been subjected to horrendous crimes and brutally graphic murders from the pits of humanity that no children like yourselves should ever have to witness, right?" Richard began.

We glanced at each other, then nodded.

"Mate, where the hell were your parents during all this?" He cried, his face suddenly going serious.

I squirmed, staring at the floor. _Right there doing the killing._ I thought, but I obviously couldn't tell them _that_. "We were… kidnapped, briefly." I lied. Mirianda looked at me sharply and I shot her a warning glare. She rolled her eyes and said nothing.

"By psychopathic killers who left you both alive for some seemingly unknown reason while they slaughtered countless others and decided to drag you with them on their dangerous, murderous escapades…?" He raised his eyebrows at me and I squirmed again, mirthlessly thinking about how suddenly eloquent he was being.

"I suppose they wanted to raise us as killers like them." I grumbled, grabbing one of Richard's many comic books. "Oh hey, this looks cool." I said brightly, trying to distract him.

"You're holding it upside down, dimwit." Richard pointed out, glaring at me. I glared right back at him, slowly turning it the right side up, then raking my gaze back over it and pretended to be engrossed by the pictures. Mirianda peered over my shoulder, also trying to get off the morbid topic.

Kelly cleared her throat and stood up. "We best be going home now, come on Susie, Malum, Mirianda." She said.

I sighed, putting the little book down and standing too, helping Mirianda to her feet "Come back soon." Richard told me quietly. "I want to hear more of your, 'based on true' horror stories."

I glared at him as we walked out.

I slung my jacket over my shoulder and marched down the road. Mirianda had one hand firmly clamped over mine. "Where's your mum?" I asked Susan and Kelly as they trailed behind us, having trouble keeping up with our long strides.

"She went back home, she thought we'd be staying longer." Kelly told me.

I nodded, increasing my pace. It was a long walk back to their house, and, by the time we got there, we were all worn out.

"Kelly! Susan! I thought you guys were staying at Richard's longer, I was just about to go and get you!" Annenia cried, closing her car door, her keys in hand. Kelly shook her head glumly. "Is something wrong? How's Richard and Greg?" Annenia asked, coming up and putting a hand on her daughter's shoulder.

Kelly glanced at me, but I refused to look at her. "No, everything's fine. We just, decided to come home early." She told her. Mirianda and I slipped past them as they were talking, going in the house and into our side.

I closed the door, sighing and slumping down at the kitchen table, Mirianda taking the seat across from me. Silently, I wondered where mother and father were. I stood back up, throwing my faded jacket over my shoulder again and heading for my room, Mirianda trailing silently behind me, like a shadow. I tossed the jacket on the old chair in the small sitting room as I passed it.

"Hey!"

I jumped at the irritated cry, spinning to see mother sitting in the chair, Lumin in her lap, my jacket over her face. She ripped it off.

"Sorry mother!" I cried, rushing forward and grabbing it.

She glared at me, leaning back in the chair again and re-crossing her legs, wrapping her arms back around Lumin, who seemed unperturbed. "Well, how did you enjoy playing with your friends?" Mother feigned interest, her eyes going back to the book she was reading and her lips sipping at a teacup.

"Good, fine, it was fun. Goodnight." I spun to race for my room, and slammed head-first into an impenetrable brick wall. I fell to the floor, covering my nose. "Ow…" I mumbled.

A hand reached down and grabbed my arm, pulling me to my feet. ''Are you alright?" Turns out, the brick wall was just father.

"Yeah." I murmured, rubbing my nose and looking up at him.

"How was your day?" he asked, glancing up at Mirianda who stood just behind me.

I shrugged. "It was okay." I replied, trying to go around him.

He stepped in my way.

"Where are you going so fast? Don't you want to spend time with your family?" I heard my mother's voice behind me, and I looked back without turning my head, then my gaze went back up to my father as he stood imposingly in front of me without even trying to act intimidating.

I stared at the floor. "My room." I replied quietly. "And… not really." I mumbled.

I heard my mother's mock-horror gasp. "Now you just wait a minute, young man." I turned around to see she'd discarded the book and was now standing, Lumin sitting alone in the big armchair, a big book in her lap as she flipped the pages, staring at the pictures. I also noticed mother was several inches shorter than usual. I glanced down at her feet to see they were bare. I furrowed my brow, then looked back up at her face.

"You don't want to spend time with your family? Now that's just hurtful, now isn't it Severus?" She came towards me.

"Indeed." Father replied stiffly.

"Because we, want to spend time with you." She leaned down and tapped my nose with a long, well-manicured nail.

"But… we never spend time together-" I began.

"Yes, yes, that's going to change." She straightened back up and waved her hand dismissively, turning to Mirianda and taking a lock of long black hair and playing with it, making the girl look more than a little nervous.

"Since when…?" I asked.

"Since now. Today, actually. Your…" Mother's eyes flicked up to father for an instant. "_Father_, and I discussed it. And, during our present conditions… we felt it a good idea, and necessary in order to fit in with these… muggles." No matter how well she got along with them, she still said the word like it was poison in her mouth.

"Okay, whatever." I plopped down on one of the other chairs in the room. Mother and father did the same, leaving Mirianda to squeeze next to me on the chair. We fit fine, as she was small and I was tiny. We sat in awkward silence for a while.

"Well, this is fun." Mother said brightly, a dazzling, but obviously fake smile on her face as she pried Lumin's fingers off of a book binding, preventing the girl from bending it. I flicked my gaze to father, who was staring at the floor, deep in thought as usual, then glanced at Mirianda who snuggled closer to me, wrapping her arms around me and resting her head tiredly on my shoulder. I sighed softly, leaning my head against hers.

"What do normal families usually talk about?" Mother sighed after getting no response from any of us.

"Movies, and... legos." I replied, also staring at the floor, thinking about all the things the kids had talked about today after spending time with them.

"What's a legos?" Mother asked.

"They're like tiny bricks, you can build toy houses out of them." Mirianda replied, her voice sounding as tired as she looked.

Mother stared at her as she obviously tried to picture this, then gave up and shrugged. "Okay. Since we have no experience with… legos, or movies, what else can we talk about?" She asked, slumping in her seat slightly. When we, once again, did not reply, she sat up straight and said brightly, "I know, why don't we all talk about what we did today?"

I groaned inwardly, not much feeling like telling them what I did.

"I, stayed here with Lumin, relaxing for possibly the first time in my life, and read this fascinating book about…" She looked at the cover. "'Holy Bible'" She raised her eyebrows, the opened the book, flipping through the thin pages. "It's written by… the Gideons? It's a simply fascinating book about… murder, mystery, a god and his creation… marvelous, but would take someone simply ages to read, look at how thick it is!" She held it up for us to see.

I raised my eyebrows and she handed it to me. "It's one thousand, two hundred and ninety one pages long!" I cried as I studied a few of the pages for a while mother and father talked, and, found the book very hard to follow.

Mirianda peered at it from where her head still lay on my shoulder. "What happened to the plot? It disappears later on…" She murmured as I flipped a few hundred of the ultra-thin pages.

"I'm not sure. I only made it to the… " Mother grabbed it back and flipped a long way back. "Oh, would you look at that, it's not just one book, that's why it's so big. Anyway, I made it to the second book… and the… eighth chapter… but that was as far as I could go." She laughed, closing it and putting it on a shelf.

"I spent the day walking around muggle London." Father murmured, still deep in thought.

"I spent the day with Mirianda, Kelly, Susan, Richard, Gregory and Molly." I told them, not wanting to fill in details.

"And I spent the day with Malum, Kelly, Susan, Richard, Gregory and Molly." Mirianda murmured unnecessarily, in what should have been a sarcastic voice, but was too soft to tell. We were silent again.

"Okay, well, let's go have some dinner." Mother turned and walked into the kitchen and Lumin followed her. I, Mirianda nor father made any attempts to move.

"Boys! Miria!" Mother sang from the kitchen. We still didn't move. We were just sitting, him staring at the floor, me staring at him, Mirianda falling asleep on my shoulder. I felt their thoughts, feelings and memories running through my mind. I pushed further towards fathers, wondering what he was thinking about. I found an image of mother, with a bubble of emotions surrounding it.

I tentatively popped it and felt an overwhelming sense of confusion, and a mix of other feelings, as well as snippets of conversation from the day, some were mother's voice, others were father's.

_…so I decided to give it a hug… _-mother

_…a rare man indeed… _-mother

_Walk much? _–father

_Mummy! _-Lumin

_…bloody shoes… _-mother

_...mother to mother, and… she gave me some pointers… _-mother

_…I looked at them as my children, for possibly the first time ever… _-mother

_…my opinion matters… _-father

_...boys!... _-mother

_…no, but I do believe we should at least try… _-mother

_…you can't really mean that!... _-father

_…you should know by now, I don't love you in any way… _-father

_…bloody fool, you know what I mean… _-mother

_…for the children's sake, as their parents, we must get along… _-mother

_…they don't expect us to, they know we hate each other… _-father

_…suit yourself, Severus, it was just an idea…. _–mother

I was suddenly pushed from the thoughts and brought back from my daydreaming. I blinked, looking around to see that father was staring at me in an odd way. "What?" I asked. He didn't reply, simply continued staring at me. "Mother's waiting." I murmured, standing and heading for the kitchen, feeling his eyes on the back of my head the whole time.

**POV: Severus Snape**

I watched Malum carefully throughout dinner. He sat silently on Bellatrix' lap, staring at his plate, but not eating anything.

I had felt his probing earlier, and my suspicions had been confirmed. He was a natural Legilimens. When he had first begun probing my mind, his presence had been so soft, I hadn't noticed it. Fortunately, I did discover the intrusion before anything… vital, slipped into his grasp.

I decided that we would begin Legilimency and Occlumency lessons immediately. There was no time to waste on such advanced natural abilities that he so obviously possessed.

The next day at breakfast, we all sat silently until Malum spoke up.

"What are we going to do today, mother?" Malum asked, chewing.

Bellatrix slipped her left arm around her son while she stabbed at her food with her fork. "Haven't decided yet." She murmured, her mouth full.

"Can we…" He stopped eating, staring at his plate, conflict taking over his face.

I looked up from my food and stared at him. "Malum?" Bellatrix set her fork down and tried to look at her son by twisting in her seat.

I also set my fork down and stared at him, folding my hands on the table and pushing my plate away, much to Lumin's protest, as she was still reaching for my unfinished food. "It's alright, you can tell us." I told Malum, taking Lumin's little hand and wiping it on a napkin, as she was trying to wipe it on my robes.

"Can we… do something… together… today?" Malum asked, daring a glance up at me, then back at Bellatrix, who wore the same surprised expression as I. "It's okay, I get it, I know you guys hate each other, you don't have to do this for me." He mumbled, jumping off Bellatrix' lap and racing out of the room, slamming his door and leaving Mirianda, Bellatrix and I staring after him.

**POV: Malum Lixam Snape**

I slammed the door to my room and locked it with a silent, wandless spell without realizing. I dove onto the bed, curling up under the warm covers, reveling in how soft and comfortable it was. I had never had such a comfortable bed before this.

I cried silently into my pillow, feeling hot tears burning down my pale, ice cold cheeks. I cringed, feeling like the tears were scorching my skin. I quickly rubbed them away, not wanting to deal with the additional pain.

It wasn't a shock to me. I had always known mother and father hated each other. I had just….so much had changed… since we had moved in with the muggles. Such as, mother was beating me less, a lot less, not at all, actually. Father… well, father hadn't really changed much. He was… less harsh, perhaps. And they were getting along okay.

But I wanted more! I wanted to be a happy family, like Kelly and Susan's family. Their parents loved each other. I had never really thought about it before, but I'd never understood that parents were supposed to love each other and their children. I had always assumed they were supposed to argue all the time, to despise each other and constantly be at each other's throats, beating their beliefs into their children and not stopping until their child begged them to.

I felt the tears scorching my skin again. I let out a tiny cry of pain, rubbing them furiously away again. Right then and there, I made a vow to never cry again. It was too painful. It just made things hurt more than was necessary.

There was a gentle tap on my door. I squeezed my eyes shut, burying my face in my pillow. "Malum?" It was mother. I heard her trying the knob, then muttering a spell that unlocked it. I glanced over at the door to see both my parents standing there, looking concerned, Lumin and Mirianda trailing behind them.

"Go back to the kitchen." I heard father tell them. Lumin scowled, but did as she was told when her sister took her hand and started leading her back obediently.

I looked away, pushing my face further into the pillow. "Malum…" Mother sighed, and I heard her bare feet padding on the floor as she came closer. I felt the bed shift and knew she had sat down on the side. I felt her hand rest on my shoulder and I stiffened. I heard father's boots tapping dully on the floor and the bed shifted again. He'd sat next to mother.

"Just go away." I cried into the pillow, my voice terse and quivering.

"Malum, we need to talk to you." Mother told me, shaking me slightly. I curled myself up further, trying to shut their voices out. Mother sighed, rubbing her thumb over my bony shoulder. "You know as well as we do, that your father and I, we don't love each other." She whispered. "But we're willing to spend a day together, with you, if that's still what you want." She told me in a coaxing voice.

I turned to face them and mother gasped at the long red lines that the tears had scorched into my skin under my eyes. "But it won't be the same! We won't be going as a family, who loves each other. We'll be going as a mother, father, their beloved daughters and their stupid son, who just tolerate each other. If that's all we're going as, then no, I don't want to anymore." I told them, stuffing my face back into the pillow.

"Malum, you know we can't just, flip a switch and suddenly have feelings for each other." Father's deep voice murmured.

"Then why did you ever have me? Why did you drag me and Miria, and Lumi into this, if you don't love each other?" I cried, angry as I sat up and glared at them, tears threatening to spill out again.

Mother and father glanced at each other guiltily. "Malum, you know why-"

I cut her off. "I know, I know. We were born to be used. But now that _I_ can't be used, you're stuck with me. And you hate that." I hissed, black eyes blazing angrily.

"The Dark Lord can still use you! We… we just have to overcome this illness…." Mother's voice trailed off.

"Maybe I don't want to be used by the Dark Lord, did that ever cross your mind?" I hissed.

Mother's head snapped up to stare at me in shock. Her face hardened. I fell back on my bed, hitting my head on the headboard, a resounding crack going through the room. It took me a moment to realize she'd slapped me as I felt my already raw cheek begin to sting painfully.

Without another word, mother stood up and walked out of the room, slamming the door with such a force, I was surprised it didn't fall off its hinges. I raised a trembling hand to my burning cheek, whimpering and feeling more tears scorching down the burn. The pain was almost unbearable. I reached my other hand to rub tentatively at the back of my skull which was beginning to form a dull ache. I felt of it, feeling a small bump begin to form. I winced.

After a while, I realized father was still sitting on the edge of the bed, watching me. I glared at him, sitting up, my cheek red, daring him to hit me too. I wouldn't care. I saw him move slightly and I flinched, snapping my eyes shut and tensing up, ready for the pain. But it didn't come.

I carefully opened my eyes, squinting as though we were in the sun, still tense, ready for the slap I was convinced I was going to receive. "I'm not going to hit you, Malum. I never have, and I never will. No matter what you say. Or do." He added as I glared at him. I wanted him to hit me, so I could have another reason to hate him. I wanted him to hate me, so that I could hate him even more, and not feel guilty about it.

Neither of us looked away as we stared at each other. My gaze was defiant and hurt. His was unwavering and unemotional. Like a stone. I suddenly became so desperate for him to hate me, that I was willing to do anything to make that happen. I reached forward, hitting him with the same intensity my mother had hit me.

I sat back and watched him carefully. He raised a hand to his now red cheek, wincing. "Malum, why are you trying so hard to make things worse for yourself?" He asked gruffly. I stared at the floor, curling my tiny fingers over the bedspread. Anger flared up inside me that I couldn't contain, control or even explain. I hit him again, harder this time. I reached back to swing again and he caught my thin arm before my hand hit his face again. I swung my other arm and he caught it too. "Malum." He said in a warning tone. I started struggling wildly, trying to kick him, claw at him, bite him, anything. "Mal- Malum!" He cried, holding my arms and standing as I flung myself wildly at him and fell off the bed from the effort. He was desperately trying to keep me as far back as possible.

"Malum, stop!" He commanded, but I didn't listen, I kept fighting him with all the strength I had. He wrapped his arms around me to get me to stop moving. I squirmed in his grasp, then, realizing I couldn't move, I leaned down and bit down hard of his hand. He cried out, letting go of me and shoving me away from him hard enough for me to stumble and hit the floor hard. I whimpered and began crying.

I looked up at him with tear-stained face, feeling the burn on my skin as though it were his fault. Each tear burned more harshly than the first, adding to the throbbing headache I already had. I stared up at father, my eyes dull with pain. He was clutching at his hand which was bleeding quite badly. I gave him a wicked grin, despite the tears. I got some sort of odd pleasure out of seeing him in pain. As if his pain might add a little relief to my own. As if it would prove to him just _how much _pain I was in.

**POV: Severus Snape**

I stared at him, a hurt look on my face. "Are you happy now, Malum?" I panted.

He stared up at me, a grin spreading over his tear-streaked face. "I'm scared to get close, but I hate being alone. I long for that feeling to not feel at all. The higher I get, the lower I'll sink. I can't drown my demons, they know how to swim." He whispered. I stared at him, my brow creasing in confusion. What was he talking about? It sounded as though he were quoting something from a book.

"I'm scared to get close, but I hate being alone. I long for that feeling to not feel at all. The higher I get, the lower I'll sink. I can't drown my demons, they know how to swim." He repeated, his voice higher, more shrill. He repeated it over and over, his voice growing louder and more piercing.

Finally, I jumped forward, grabbing him and shaking him hard. He let his head flop back and forth, grinning wildly the whole time. "Daddy's evil little follower!" He sang, then let out a long, eerie laugh. What the devil was wrong with him?! A vacant expression took over his face, his eyes began losing focus and trailing in opposite directions.

"Love me this, love me that, love me then and now! No one knows, how deep it goes, how far the scars dig down!" He giggled, letting his head flop to the side, no longer staring at me.

"Bellatrix!" I called desperately, holding him more tightly.

**"**You don't know me. You don't know the origin of my tears. I don't care...your dead in my eyes, and have been all these years..." He whispered to me, right in my ear and sending a chill down my spine. I was dead to him?

"Bellatrix!" I shouted desperately.

The door slammed open. "What?" She hissed.

"There's something wrong with him, something terribly wrong." I told her urgently, struggling with my hold on the constantly squirming boy.

He let out a pitch of maniacal laughter. "Mommy's home!" He shrieked, trying to pry himself out of my grasp. Despite how angry she was, Bellatrix' eyes widened and she hurried over, falling to her knees in front of the child, pushing Lumin back slightly to keep her safe from the suddenly insane boy.

"What… what's wrong?" Bellatrix asked.

"I don't know, we need to get him to a medical center." I told her.

She nodded, placing a hand over mine. In a flash, we were at the nearest wizard medical center. I knew it hadn't been a good idea to Apparate Malum when he was still so young and had never done it before, but he needed immediate medical attention.

Malum gagged, leaning forward, the usual response to one's first time Apparating. I grabbed him, going in the medical center, Bellatrix right beside me.

"Name?" The witch droned out as soon as we reached the desk.

"Not important right now, he needs medical attention!" I snapped at her. She glared up at me, then her eyes widened at the sight of Malum and she suddenly became serious and called in med-wizards who came out and took him from me as he continued to shriek and sing in his young, demented voice.

While we waited, the woman had me fill out a form that answered questions about who I was, and what I had been noticing in Malum for a while to help them discover what could have been wrong with him. I gave Malum the alias of Falin Cerenbus, just so we wouldn't be recognized.

During that time, Bellatrix was sitting next to me, her head down, trying not to be recognized. No one even noticed us. It was several long hours before we were told anything, in which time, Bellatrix had fallen asleep, her hair still protectively shielding her face from possible recognition.

"Mister Cerenbus?" A witch walked in the room, wearing a white lab coat with a

"Yes?" I stood up right away. I had given her a false surname, as I hoped to not be recognized. The Latin name Cerenbus, which translated to 'son' had been the first thing to pop into my mind.

"Your son has a, severe, mental illness." She told me quietly.

"Yes, we already knew he had a mental problem, but it's never been this serious." I told her quietly.

She nodded sadly. "Well, we have given him a potion to hold it at bay, you can come see him now." I nodded and followed her through the halls. We stopped and went in one of the doors. I felt my heart stop for an instant when I saw my son laying there on the bed, so helpless, so pale. He was asleep.

"We gave him a sleeping draught, he was pretty far gone in the Madness." She told me, sighing.

"What, exactly does he have?" I asked, unable to take my eyes off the small boy.

"He has a condition we call, Moony Madness. It's, somewhat similar to the madness that takes over the minds of Werewolves post transformation, only… this is far more deadly." She looked at me seriously.

I looked at her sharply. "What do you mean?" I demanded.

"Well, you see. Moony Madness is a very rare disease of the mind… and those who do have it, can go their whole lives without being bothered by it, or even know they have it." She sighed and folded her arms. "A person is born with the seed of the Madness already planted in their mind. But, a select few exposed to the proper conditions for the Madness to spread, it will slowly eat away at the mind until there's nothing left."

I stared at her, then back at Malum. "But… there's a cure, isn't there?" I begged.

She shook her head solemnly, her face serious. "Mister Cerenbus… listen to me. Look at me." I dragged my gaze back over to her, and she looked at me very seriously. "I can't lie to you. There is no permanent cure. The only thing you can do for him is give him this potion which will keep him sane, but nothing can stop the Madness from eating away at his mind. It's in its first two stages now, it will only get worse." She told me quietly. I was silent for a few moments, taking in the morbid information.

"How long does he have before he loses his mind?" I asked quietly, trying to keep my voice steady.

"He should live until his fourteenth or fifteenth birthday, according to the information you gave me, he'll only live ten years after the first stage kicked in… no one who has the Madness already developing in their mind so strongly has ever lived past that." She told me softly, watching Malum as he slept.

"You mean it will eventually _kill _him?" I cried.

She nodded somberly.

I felt my heart sink. Fourteen? Fifteen? Why so young? It was unfair that he wouldn't be able to live past such a young age! I moved over to the side of his bed and gently brushed my hand over Malum's tiny, cold, pale one.

"Now, the next few years are going to be very difficult for you, Mister Cerenbus." She warned. "Your son will begin experiencing nightmares, vivid ones. His mind is already beginning to twist itself, already being molded by the Madness. It will put images in his head that aren't real. It will put voices in his ears, that aren't there. It will show him memories that never happened. It will be your job to help him through this." She told me.

"Why, so he can live a little longer only to die a few years later?" I snapped bitterly, my voice shaking slightly.

She looked taken aback. "Your son _needs_ you, Mister Cerenbus. You have to help him through this! After the nightmares kick in, he will no longer be able to distinguish dreams from reality, and will have to learn to treat both as though they weren't only playing in his mind, because he will never know the difference."

I shook my head stubbornly, not accepting what she was telling me.

"Yes, yes it's true." She told me, resting a hand on my shoulder. "You must accept it. Because if you don't, your son will be stuck facing this living hell on his own, and that will only make his life worse."

I thought about what she was saying for a moment, then closed my eyes, clenching my fists. "What, must I do?" I asked, my voice shaking slightly.

"First of all, you have to spend time with your son, be with him every moment he's awake, because he's not going to have a clue if he's dreaming or not. You'll have to help him through that, because, more than anything in this second stage of the Madness, he's going to be scared. Very scared." She told me. I nodded. "As the Madness progresses, there will be more and more problems that will occur. It will be your job to make sure his will to fight through them remains intact, and to make sure he properly takes his medicine, as well as other things." She sighed. "There are, several known stages to the Mooney Madness. Stage one, the stage your son should have gone through many years ago, was the Silence Period. It's the point in which one completely closes themselves off from the world, mind and all. He has already experienced this, correct?"

I nodded, remembering many years ago when he altogether stopped talking.

"The second stage, the stage your son has just gone through, is the Snapping Point. Where the mind snaps, and first begins to unravel. It is the point in which the Madness first begins to take over, and after that, nothing can be done to prevent it." She folded her arms, staring at me evenly. "The third stage is the Post-Traumatic Stage. It is where he begins to see things that aren't there, and have dark visions and nightmares, and will no longer be able to tell the difference from reality and dreams. It will be a very traumatizing stage indeed. For the both of you."

I listened carefully, all the while still staring at my son.

"The fourth stage is the Harm Stage." She turned and looked at me seriously. "This is where he will begin to practice self-harm. Now, when I say 'stage', it means it will be recurring. Period, means he may grow out of it. Point, is a moment in time. Now, what I mean is, 'Silence period' meaning he should open up a little more before the 'Snapping point', has he?"

I nodded.

"And 'Snapping point', as in a moment in time where him mind snaps. 'Post-Traumatic Stage', meaning he will never fully be rid of the nightmares, and will never truly be sure what is a dream and what is reality. 'Harm Stage' meaning he will never grow out of harming himself. He will find it as a comforting release." She sighed again. "You won't be able to make him stop. He will most likely try, like all the others, but he won't be able to do it. Now, the fifth stage is the Dark Period. It's where he will begin to take on dark tendencies, such as dark thoughts and practices, you'll need to keep a very close eye on him while you try to help him through it, it is only a period, so he should grow out of it, even if not completely."

I stared at the floor, listening.

"The sixth stage, is the Depression Stage. He will find himself sinking into the depths of depression and despair, this will continue to haunt him to his death. The seventh stage is the Suicidal period, you'll need to keep a very close eye on him after this one kicks in, as he will be more prone to try… _things_. You will find yourself talking him out of killing himself practically every day, it is made worse by the Depression Stage, which will still be with him"

I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to hear any more of this complex problem, but I needed to know everything about it.

"The eighth stage is the Vacant period, where common symptoms such as delusions paranoia… similar to the muggle mental disease, Paranoid Schizophrenia. The ninth stage is the Depression Stage part two, it intensifies the depression he will already be having. And, the tenth, the last known stage, will be the Unraveling Point, where his mind will begin to unravel itself and then-"

"He dies." I finished for her quietly, my voice wavering.

She nodded gravely. Her shoulders slumped. "We haven't had a patient in here for a while with this disease. It's very rare… it's awful to see it happen to anybody, but a child so young…" She shook her head and sighed. "We'll keep him over night to make sure the serum works properly and we'll give you a month's supply. After that, it will be up to you to take care of him and to keep up with his potions." She told me. I nodded slowly. "You are welcome to stay here with him." She gestured the guest bed beside Malum's and I nodded again.

"Yes… thank you." I murmured.

"I really am sorry." She murmured, rubbing my arm lightly, then turned and left. "Oh, excuse me." I heard her say as she went around a figure in black that was coming in the room. It was Bellatrix.

"Well?" She demanded.

I sighed, sitting on the edge of Malum's bed and staring at his pale face. "It's worse than we feared." I told her quietly.

"He has the Madness."

**AN: I had to cut it off here, because originally, this chapter was over 12,000 words long… yeah. Haha, so I cut it in half. Next chapter will be coming soon! Please review? :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter seven:**

**I Do Love Him **

**POV: Mirianda Perios Snape**

"Mum? Father?" I clutched Lumin's hand gently in my own, going into Malum and my room. I heard shrieking and singing. It was scary.

"We need to get him to a medical center!" Father was saying. He was kneeling, holding a squirming and writhing Malum in his grasp.

"Father?" I asked again, pushing the door open, but it was too late, they had already apparated, leaving me and Lumin alone in the house.

"Where'd they go!?" Lumin shrieked, clinging to me when her parents vanished in a cloud of black.

"It's okay, Lumi, they just apparated." I comforted her, picking up the small girl and resting her on my hip, wrapping my arms around her small body to keep her in place. She wrapped her legs around my waist and her arms around my neck.

"But where did they go?" She asked, holding on to me for dear life, clamping a tiny fist around a lock of my hair.

"A medical center, there's something wrong with Malum." I sighed, walking back into the kitchen.

"What are we going to do? How come they left us?" She asked in her tiny four-year old voice.

"I don't know, Lumi." I replied quietly, sitting down and holding her in my lap.

"Can we go play with Susie?" She asked after a few minutes of silence.

I thought for a while. Would mum and father let us if they were here? Probably, but what if they were to come back and we were gone? I leaned forward to look out the window. Annenia's car wasn't there. That meant she was at work or something.

"Come on." I set her down and took her hand, then went to the door and slipped out, glancing around. The house was silent. I tip-toed up to the front door to see there was a note on it.

**Severus and family,**

**Just in case y'all wonder where we went, it was my first day back to work. Anne and the girls went out for the day. Help yourselves to anything in the kitchen. **

**Randy Evers**

**P.S. if you go out, lock the door.**

I had to read it a few times before I understood it, as I wasn't great at reading. I sighed and stuck it back on the door, but the muggle tape that had held it up had lost its stick. I sighed and drew out my wand. I turned to Lumi. "Now, Lumi. Remember, we can't _ever _do magic around these muggles, okay?" She nodded and I performed a sticking charm on the tape and stuck it back on the door.

I checked to make sure the door was locked, then took Lumin's hand again. We explored the rest of the house for about a half hour before we got bored again and went back to our half of the house.

"What now?" Lumin asked, climbing onto my lap as we sat in the sitting room.

"No idea." I sighed, hugging her. "I guess we just wait for someone to come home."

**POV: Bellatrix Black**

After Severus explained to me everything the nurse had told him, I had sunken to the bed beside him, eyes wide and vacant, heart beating rapidly. What would this mean for our son? Would the Dark Lord still be interested in his usefulness if he'd be dead in only ten years?

I swallowed hard, wondering what kinds of punishments we may receive for having bred such a second-rate child. "What are we going to do?" I asked quietly, desperately clutching at Severus' sleeve.

"Well, all we can do is what the med-witch suggested, spend time with him and hope for the be-"

I cut him off. "No, you idiot, about the Dark Lord?" I hissed. "He will be less than pleased to hear his prize is damaged beyond repair." I told him quietly.

Severus narrowed his eyes at me, turning slightly away from Malum so he was facing me. "Are you saying that you aren't the least bit concerned that _your own son _is so ill?" He demanded.

I huffed, hurt by the accusation. "Of course I'm concerned about him, you arrogant swine! Come off it, will you? You know I care about him as much as you do-"

He cut me off this time. "No, Bellatrix, I don't know. That much has been unclear for years. To me, it seems as though you only like him because of the glory he will bring you in the Dark Lord's eyes should Malum truly become his right-hand wizard." He growled quietly.

I narrowed my eyes, not wanting to get into an argument with him where we could be caught and I could be recognized. First off, I could _not_ be recognized, or I was dead, second, Severus couldn't be seen with me, because that would damage his reputation as a 'good guy' and it would ruin his usefulness as a spy.

"We are _not _discussing this now, Severus. Not here." I told him firmly, sliding off the edge of the bed and moving around him to stare at my poor son. I really had begun to love him. The way a mother should, though I was concerned I wouldn't be able to love him for very long. The few people I had affection reserved for were the only ones whom had always had my affection. None of them had ever had to grow on me, like Malum had. I didn't expect too much, but I did hope I would be able to keep it up.

I sighed, quickly stroking his midnight hair back from his face and moving away from him over to the guest bed and slid into it, earning a disapproving scowl from Severus. "I was going to stay with him, you should go back home and stay with the girls." He told me.

"I'm not going back to the _muggles _home, Severus. Mirianda's responsible, she'll take care of Lumin. And as for you? You can sleep on the floor if you like." I told him, pulling the covers up and turning my back to him.

I listened as the silence dragged on, before I heard the subtle ruffle of fabric and the light tap of boots on the hard floor. I felt the bed dip beside me and my eyes widened. He wouldn't?

I felt his back brush mine briefly. Surely he hadn't? I turned and saw that the insufferable man indeed _had. _I clenched my jaw, scooting as far away as I could so that I was literally hugging the wall the bed was up against. Many things ran through my mind that night as the hours ticked by and he remained in the bed, a still form next to me, a constant reminder of how much I hated men and their cheekiness.

Though Severus had made it clear he didn't like me that way, he sure was willing to do _anything_ to piss me off. I glanced over my shoulder again to see he was facing away from me, black hair slightly covering his face, chest rising and falling softly. He was asleep. I rolled over, facing him, pressing my back against the wall and measuring the space between us. It was about two inches of space between my chest and his back. And it wasn't enough.

I tried pressing against the wall further, but I was as far back from him as I could get on the small bed. Grumbling silently, I played with the idea of shoving him off the bed. It would serve him right, but may not play in my favor in the end. I decided to just leave him. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

**POV: Severus Snape**

Bellatrix had been asking for it when she left enough room on the bed for me to lie down beside her. I had been hoping she would get frustrated and get up when I didn't, leaving the bed to me, but she never did, and I ended up just falling asleep.

I woke the next morning to the sound of rustling. I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling. I was laying on my back on possibly the most uncomfortable bed I'd ever slept on. And I had thought sleeping on the chair at the muggle's house had been uncomfortable.

I blinked and turned my head to see a med-witch giving Malum his medicine, checking him over, glancing over at us and then leaving. I turned my head back to face the ceiling. I suddenly remembered the night before and glanced to my left to see that Bellatrix was snuggled up beside me, wrapped around my arm, head on my shoulder, black curls almost completely covering her beautiful face, the side of my cloak underneath her so far that she had it wrapped around and over the other side, leg draped over mine.

I silently laughed at this, knowing how much Bellatrix would hate herself if I allowed her to wake in this same position. So, instead of facing a grumpy Bellatrix, I gently pried her off me and slipped out of my cloak, since she was on top of half of it, and slid off the bed, rubbing the back of my neck, leaving Bellatrix to snuggle with my cloak.

I walked quietly over to Malum and sat on the edge of his bed, taking his small hand carefully and feeling of it. I sighed with relief when I felt the familiar icy touch. Anything but, and I would have called the med-witch back in. I sat there for the longest time before the med-witch from the night before came in.

"Ah, Mister Cerenbus. You're awake." She greeted me quietly. "I have been monitoring your son through the night and, he's fine to go, just keep an eye on him." She told me. I nodded, watching as she unhooked him from several machines. "He's still on a mild sleeping draught, I would keep him on them for the next week, just every night so as to help prevent nightmares, but they'll eventually stop taking effect." She told me quietly.

I nodded again.

"This, is his medicine." She showed me a vial full of orange liquid. "He needs to take it every morning, and every night before bed."

I took the vial, thanking her, then turned to glance at Bellatrix. "We'll just be going now." I told the med-witch, and she nodded.

"Just sign here please." She told me. I took the bloody thing and read it over quickly before signing and handing it back to her. "One more thing…" The med-witch sighed wearily. "Take this." She handed me a vial of red liquid that looked suspiciously volatile.

"What is this?" I asked, eyeing it.

"It's poison. Just in case something bad happens, you should keep it with you all the time. Should your son have an attack, and be suffering more than you think he can handle, that will be what I suggest. Just make sure it's more than _he _can handle before you use it, not more than you can."

I stared at her in horror.

"Don't look at me like that, mister Cerenbus. I have already told you how much pain and suffering he will be going through. Most parents ask us to just put their child out of their misery before they even reach the worst of the Madness. And you will have to use that when stage ten rolls around. Take him to any medical center while he's in stage ten, and that's what they'll do, with or without your permission. Keep it."

I squeezed the vial, then pocketed it.

"You're free to go." She told me, walking out. "Oh, and Mister Cerenbus? Don't mistake his poison for his medicine."

I stared after her for a moment, wondering if there was more than one meaning behind her words, such as, if we were to mistake what we thought was best for him, for something that could end up killing him. Like Bellatrix thinking she had the children's best intentions in mind, while really, she was destroying their souls. I shook my head at that thought, for the med-witch knew nothing about us.

I sighed wearily, then went over and woke Bellatrix, who stared at me with bleary eyes. "Hmm?" She looked around until her eyes adjusted, and she immediately sat up. "Where are we?" She asked urgently.

"The hospital, remember? Malum…" I sighed as she stared at me dumbly. Remembrance lit up behind her cold eyes and she nodded, standing, pulling my cloak more tightly around her shoulders and shivering as her bare feet touched the cold hard floor.

I moved back over to Malum's bed and slid my arms under him, lifting him gently, marveling at how light he was. I stared pointedly at Bellatrix and she shuffled closer to me, sliding her hand into mine that was under Malum's knee. In a flash, we were back in Malum's bedroom. Bellatrix ripped her hand out of mine, pointedly walking away with an air of defiance about her. I shook my head and carried Malum the short distance to his bed and put him in it.

I sat beside him for a while, watching him sleep.

So, he had finally snapped. I had heard of Mooney Madness long before Malum was ever born. I had studied it because it had fascinated me. Now, all it meant to me was offending, being that I knew enough about it to know how much of a nightmare the next ten years were going to be.

I sighed, standing and moving out of the room. I passed through the sitting room to see Mirianda and Lumin fast asleep on the chair I slept on the night before. I then entered the small kitchen to see Bellatrix sitting at the table, still wearing my cloak, eyes half-open, looking ready to fall back to sleep any moment. I sat across from her, putting my elbows on the table and my head in my hands, slumping forward.

"Despite what you may think, I _do _care about Malum, Severus." Bellatrix started flatly, sounding tired. I didn't respond, and she clearly took my silence as a sign of disagreement. "If I hadn't cared about him, I wouldn't have stayed at that bloody hospital all night." She growled, clearly referring to the bed situation which was still a sore subject for me. "I despise, no; I loathe you for doing that to me." She informed me. I still didn't reply, and she was quickly becoming peeved. "_Why, _did you do that to me, Severus?" She pressed.

"Shut your insufferably large mouth, woman, I have a headache." I growled at her, making her snap her mouth shut and stare at me icily.

"I do love him!" She felt the need to hiss, making me drop my hands from my face and give her the dirtiest look.

"Can you please stop talking, because I don't care." I told her, putting my head back in my hands and staring at the tabletop, ready to pull my hair out. Even though I made it clear I didn't want to discuss it, she continued to press the matter until I became angry. "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say, will be taken out of context and used against you." I told her, this time, folding my arms over the table and laying my head wearily in them.

She, however, still refused to let the subject drop. "Why won't you believe me?!" She cried.

"If you have something to say, please don't, because I don't want to hear it." I mumbled, not even bothering to reply to what she'd said. Now, I was just trying to get her to shut up.

Bellatrix let out an infuriated growl. "Severus! Answer me!" She demanded, stomping her foot on the floor, and, without her heels, the effect just wasn't the same.

Exasperated, I raised my head and glared at her. "What?" I spat bitterly.

She glared at me, her jaw set in a firm line. "I love Malum, and not just because the Dark Lord is interested in his magical abilities, and despite the fact that Malum has false ideas forming about the Dark Lord, I still love him!" She insisted.

I sighed, shifting in my seat. "Honesty is an expensive gift, Bellatrix… I do not expect it from cheap people. In other words, I don't believe you." I replied, receiving an incredulous gasp from Bellatrix as she stared at me in open-mouthed horror.

Since she finally had no snappy response for me, I replaced my head on my arms, feeling a throbbing headache coming on. I heard her chair being pushed back hard, scraping over the floor. I looked up as she stood, her eyes blazing. She came over to stand in front of me. Bellatrix put her hands out, just in front of my face, curling her fingers in a motion that clearly illustrated how desperately she wanted to strangle me, strain on her face.

I stared back at her evenly.

She glared at me, growling deep within her throat and clenching her fists, then spun on her heel, my cloak pointedly snapping in my face, and raced for the master bedroom, my cloak billowing behind her, slamming the door. I shook my head and put it back in my arms, closing my eyes.

**POV: Malum Lixam Snape**

I was utterly alone in imprisoning myself to the solitary confinement of my mind. I was in a solitude that had despair written all around it. There was nowhere else to turn. Desperate for the night to be over, I was daring the sun to come out, but it didn't. My ears caught every rain drop that fell, while my eyes were blinded shut by darkness. I stayed curled in my fragile state, wishing for the dreadful night to end.

I opened my eyes and stared at the window. The only thing I could see through the window was thick rain drops piercing down on my consciousness. I stayed in the middle of my bed curled up and trying to shield myself from the unknown. I felt like the sun was never going to shine and it was never going to stop raining. The night seemed restless and everlasting. A loud roar of wind came crashing down on my window accompanied by a crack of thunder and a flash that I assumed was lightning. I felt that it was trying to get inside and take me away. Why couldn't the night end soon?!

There was no opening of light to which my skin felt warmth. There was no clear view, only the imprisonment which I was in. I had nothing else to do but sit and wait. Quietly curled in my bed, waiting for darkness to fade into the sunlight. Trying to contain my thoughts in silence. I had to simply wait…..In hopes that I would not fade within the darkness.

Fear was the only motivation to carry on that cowardly travesty; seclusion, the only option not to scare the world. Not able to grasp at the offer of life, no longer able to play the idealist. I would surely go under and fade away, perhaps that was the way to go, sink into the pits of misery, drown in the pointlessness of it all.

They didn't know me, my parents. They didn't know the source of my tears. I didn't care... they were dead in my eyes and had been all those years...

I needed them then more than ever, despite my misgivings with them, needed their comforting arms wrapped around me keeping me safe… but they never came. They tried, oh, how they tried. But I pushed them away, just like I pushed away everyone else. I was too frightened to allow them to help me.

Father, saw me as a useless child, who was inept and unintelligent. Mother only saw me as a tool, a ladder to climb to the top of the Dark Lord's list of slaves. Father didn't understand that, even though my mind was tearing itself apart, I was more intelligent, held more wisdom than the average _adult_ let alone the average mentally challenged child. I knew things no child should ever know. What my mother didn't realize, was that I was not a tool, not a ladder, and I had no intentions of serving the Dark Lord anymore.

And now, as my parents both put on facades to try to twist me into their own personal evil schemes, I couldn't take the pain anymore! The suffering of waiting for the inevitable was too much, I was dying! It was killing me...not even they could save me anymore… no matter that they were only desperately trying just so that they still had their precious evil little follower…

My soul had been disillusioned. I had been cursed with bereavement and calamity, my world taken over by despair, to die in misery was my fate... it was unfair to understand this at my young age.

There were things I wanted to tell my parents, things I knew would hurt them. So I buried them, and allowed them to hurt me instead, refusing to accept their help when they offered it. I remembered my mother, how angry she'd been. Silently, I had been wondering how long she could keep up the façade of pretending to care and love me. She'd kept it going a good while longer than I would have thought possible for her.

I should have known better than to believe she had truly changed.

It left me feeling as though I was on a bed of thorns cutting into my skin as I lay waiting...looking forward to the day that I finally died... but I knew that day was still far away, and I knew that I had to keep suffering until then. But it was unfair.

And father, he was still wearing his mask, still hiding behind his charade. It was only a matter of time before mother began beating me again, and I felt certain when the time came, that father would revert to his old ways and close his eyes to my pain rather than put a stop to it like I so desperately wished he would.

I looked up when I heard a sound like someone entering my bedroom, but the door was still closed. I froze when I heard footsteps on the floor coming closer, but saw no one. Another flash of lightning, another clap of thunder. My heart thumped in fear, and suddenly, I jerked, and there was suddenly someone there. Father. I blinked, startled. What had happened? Had I been dreaming I was awake but then suddenly actually woke up? That was odd. The storm was over, and daylight was flooding into the room through the window. Had the storm ever been there at all? Was the storm only in my mind?

"Malum." Father greeted me quietly.

I stared at him. "What happened?" I asked quietly, my voice hoarse as though I'd been screaming into the night.

Father sighed. "Malum, there is something I need to tell you… but you might not like it." He told me quietly, sitting on the edge of my bed. I moved my knee so it was no longer touching him.

"Okay." I said uncertainly.

"You know, that you have a mental problem, right?" He checked and I nodded.

"But the doctors said it wasn't serious, remember?" I added and he nodded.

"Well, they were wrong. It just got serious last night." He murmured.

My eyes widened slightly. "What do you mean? What happened?" I asked in my small, childish voice.

He began to tell me about a mental disease called 'Moony Madness' and went on to say how it affects someone, and that I had already experienced the second stage which was referred to as the 'snapping point'. He then went on to say how I would begin experiencing nightmares and visions that would be very vivid and seem real. I immediately thought about a few moments before, when I had been dreaming about being awake, but had actually been sleeping. The storm had felt so real, the calamity, so gut wrenching.

When he stopped talking, I saw him hesitate, and knew there was more he wasn't telling me. I was sitting up by then, my back against the headboard and my knees drawn to my chest. "Father, please tell me. I need to know… is the Madness… incurable?" I whispered.

He sighed. "There is no… permanent, cure. Only temporary potions and serums that will keep your mind intact for the time being." He replied softly, staring at the floor.

"So, it will eventually kill me." It wasn't really a question, more of a statement.

He sighed and looked up at me. "Yes, Malum, it will. But that's a long time from now. All we can do until then is… hope for the best." He whispered the last part. I stared at my bare toes peeking out from under the covers. I swallowed, curling my tiny, pale fingers around the blanket and shoving it aside when I felt a hot flash come on.

I ripped my night shirt off and threw it. He glanced at me, then furrowed his brow in confusion. I replied by panting and waving a hand at my face. Father immediately understood and took out his wand, sending a fanning charm my way. I relaxed slightly. I wrung my clammy and warm hands together, feeling a little sick, but much better than a moment before.

I yawned, sliding back down and putting my head on the pillow, my mind still playing over what my father had just told me. I was going to die. Not right away of course but… die nonetheless. It's what I wanted… right?

**POV: Severus Snape**

I watched Malum's reaction carefully with growing curiosity. He wasn't confused, or scared… but oddly… relieved. As though he had been hoping for this. I silently wondered why he could possibly have previously hoped to no longer be among the living. Surely his mother and father's mutual dislike for each other wasn't enough to make him wish he were dead? I hoped not.

I sighed as I watched him close his eyes and fall asleep. "Goodnight child." I murmured, absent-mindedly brushing a hand over his cool, damp forehead, relieved he was back to his normal temperature. I stood and slipped out of the room, glancing back at his sleeping form before closing the door.

**AN: So, what will happen next? Just to let you know, I will NOT be posting any more chapters if more of you don't start reviewing. I mean, what's the point if no one tells me if they liked it not? SPECULATE!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter eight:**

** Prophesy**

**POV: Severus Snape**

A ghoulish scream split the air with a force equivalent only by the force with which I threw open to the door of Falin's room in my rush to save him from whatever horror was damaging his mind this time.

Malum stood next to the bed, gripping the bedpost for support, Mirianda at his side, desperately trying to calm him down. I hurried to his side, kneeling down before him. His eyes were wide open, his skin was insipid and his entire body rigid and strained.

"Malum," I whispered, placing my arm around his delicate body in an effort to help support him. He had seemed hardly able to stand, so great was the strain that his internal battle with his own mind was devouring his grasp with reality.

"What's wrong with him?" Mirianda wailed, adding to Malum's distress. "Mirianda, go back to bed." I ordered. Mirianda gave me a despairing look, but did as I said and crawled back into her and Malum's bed, pulling the covers over her head, a shivering lump.

I turned back to Malum. "Malum?" The quivering boy didn't seem to hear me, his eyes stared vacantly ahead of him. When a spasm went through his tiny body, I slipped my arm from around him, and instead cupped his face in my hands, forcing eye contact as I needed to know the source of his pain.

I was met immediately with an eerie blank wall that was over the surface of his mind. This, I intended to go straight through as I had easily been able to do times before, and was astounded when I couldn't do so.

I blanked for a moment, unsure why the outer wall of his mind was suddenly so impenetrable. I tried again, this time, ready for the blunt refusal to allow my entrance. Instead of simply trying to brush aside the normally weak veil that protected Malum's mind, I pushed harder, concentrating on the other side.

In a flash, I was drawn back to reality when I felt a cold, hard sting on my face. I stared blankly at him for a moment before realizing that he had indeed hit me, hard across the face. His black eyes, the facsimile of my own stared at me in cold defiance and malice, though just moments before, they had been plagued with fear and vulnerability.

"Malum-" I began, and he brushed me aside, stumbling forward on weak legs.

"No! No more!" He cried in his young voice that was distorted in mental rage and illness. "You filthy bastard." He called me a foul name only his mother had ever used on me before. His uncouth language had taken me off guard as he was normally a clean, respectful child who would never dream of using such crude words, especially when speaking to an elder.

I saw his eyes as they tried desperately to focus on me, but instead trained sickeningly in different directions. "No more mind games, no more head tricks, no more!" He shrieked, his words slurred and chosen wildly without intelligent thought perceptible beforehand. I put a hand to his forehead, wondering if he was ill. The normally icy boy felt unmistakably damp and hot. He shoved my hand away.

After a moment of silence, the repulsively twisted looks of pain on the sickly pale boy's face dissolved into manic smirks that were in no way induced by happiness. "Yur jealous…" The boy giggled, sounding devastatingly like a lunatic, wrapping his arms around my neck.

I furrowed my brow. "What?" I asked, earning myself a soft kiss on the cheek from the uninhibited boy.

"Mum pays more attention to me… then to you." He sang in his demented slur. I wondered how his mind could possibly have gone so far to twist a horrible truth into a good thing.

"So?" I asked skeptically.

Malum stumbled slightly, still clinging to my neck, shaking slightly, but giggling almost gleefully. "She…." Hiccup. "Loves me more!" He laughed mirthlessly, sounding much like a strangled cackle from a dying goat.

"Malum, you know that's not true." I told him quietly, earning another soft kiss from the boy, who seemed to be losing interest in the conversation.

He let go of his weak hold around my neck and stumbled forward. I stood and followed him, not wanting the unstable child to cause any unnecessary harm to himself or anyone else. He became annoyed as he wasn't able to put any distance between us. "Go away!" He screamed, sounding like his mother for an instant. He stumbled backwards and hit the floor with a thud, not bothering to get back up.

I rushed over to him and scooped up his tiny form, willing this to be a nightmare of my own, that I would wake up, and go into Malum's room and find him sleeping away as if none of this were real. But it was, and I was faced with the cold hard fact as I carried my son back to his room, tucking him in bed with his sister, that he indeed had Moony Madness, and it was in its Post-Traumatic Stage.

…

Bellatrix and I sat in the kitchen in stony silence, staring at nothing in particular. It had been a few weeks since Malum had gone into the Post-Traumatic Stage, and, since then, none of us had gotten a decent night's sleep.

The boy woke up many times in the middle of the night, -despite the sleeping draughts I gave him- screaming his head off and waking me, Bellatrix, and Lumin. He woke Mirianda first, as she shared his room. I had cast a silencing spell as a permanent barrier between our half of the house, and the muggle family's half, not wanting them to think we were murdering the poor child.

I began to hear Malum's nightmares regularly; they were every night, but he still refused to let me in. Each time I came to him and tried to calm him, I found that his mind was a peculiar vacant barrier, like a pane of blackness beneath which the horror of his nightmares remained obscured from me.

I was met over and over by the darkness surrounding Malum's mind. Something was not right; this wall, it was unlike anything I had ever felt in Malum. Still, I didn't understand why I could feel his anguish, but not see what caused it.

The feeling, when it woke me the morning before any civil other would be awake, was the same it had been since the nightmares had started; a sort of earnest anxiety, as if my son was calling out for my protection with his corporeal voice. Each time I hurried the short distance to his room from the sitting room, I expected to see him sitting up on his bed, waiting for me to comfort him, but each night he was still asleep, Mirianda hugging him tightly and crying. I could not wake him, and I could not see through the veil that hung over his nightmares.

One night, I was awakened by the wrenching feeling that Malum _needed_ me. I could feel his terror, could feel him crying out for me to save him from the nightmare. Same as always, I got up and hurried to his room to see if there was anything I could do.

This time, however, as I approached Falin's door, I heard sobbing from inside the room. I threw the door open, my wand lit, eyes trained on the empty bed. My eyes moved to a slumped form in the corner of the room, his head tilted back, his mouth open in a wail. Sobs poured from his throat like nothing I had heard from him before, and I rushed to his side, pulling him to me, and, much to my surprise, he didn't fight me at all. Mirianda was at his side, tears rolling down her cheeks and she clung to my arm as I held my son. "What's wrong with him?" She wailed. I ignored her, more concerned with my son. Little did I know that the terrors of waking up to your little brother screaming every night was taking its toll on her young mind.

I felt something was wrong when I hugged my child. He felt clammy and warm."Malum!_"_ I shouted urgently, hurling myself towards his mind, thinking of nothing but saving him from whatever horrible nightmare had him gripped so tightly in its clutches.

Once again, I was met by the offending black wall that refused to allow me entrance to his mind. Infuriated by my lack of ability to help my son, I began vehemently pounding at it. I received a foul migraine for my troubles, and not so much as a weakened bit of wall.

I mentally glared at it, eyeing it over carefully, inspecting it closely for any weaknesses. But it was as I had feared. There were none. Once the Madness had attacked, it would successfully shield Malum's mind from intrusion, allowing it to do its worst to Malum without interruption.

The only thing I could do was draw out of his mind and fish fervently around my stores for anything that might hold the Madness at bay until I could get him to an expert on diseases of the mind.

What I gave him calmed his mind, and even though the dark cloud still lingered there, he was no longer in pain. He stared glassily ahead of him, seemingly unaware of the waking world when he had so many nightmares to focus on, but he was at least no longer in pain.

I sat up with him all night, and he never went back to sleep. Mirianda had tried to stay awake with me, but had fallen asleep in my arms.

That morning, as soon as the nearest specialist was open, I took Malum to them and practically begged for their assistance, cradling a fully awake, yet fully unresponsive Malum in my arms. Though he was not unconscious, he seemed oblivious to his surroundings, and couldn't even be bothered to stand on his own.

I was forced to wait in a room with a dozen other people for far too long, a very unresponsive Malum limp in my arms before I was finally told to bring the boy back. The med-wizard was insufferably sweet and kind, so much so, that it made me want to beat him upside the head until he _helped my son_.

By the end of the day, I was thoroughly agitated, especially due to the fact that I had been told to go to several different medical centers, as all refused to treat him, when I was finally accepted at Saint Athynans, a megical/muggle hospital that specialized in all mental disorders, and even then, all I was given was a prescription for the boy, and nothing else. No medication, no potion to bring him back to reality, just a bloody slip of paper. I apparated back to his room, putting Malum to bed and storming into the kitchen, slamming myself down into my chair.

Bellatrix jumped up and moved over to me, grasping desperately at my sleeve. "How is he? I heard his screams last night." She asked.

_But didn't bother to get up to check on him. _I thought moodily. "I told them that the medicine they gave me isn't working, but all they gave me was a prescription." I hissed, tossing the crumpled paper into her grasp.

She straightened it and looked it over. "This is an outrage!" She bellowed.

Just then, there was a light tap on the door dividing our half to the muggle half. Lumin opened the door before either of us cold move to stop her. "Hi, honey, are your parents home?" I heard Annenia's voice ask. Bellatrix moved over quickly. I turned in my chair to watch. Annenia was smiling carefully, her brow furrowed and a look of true concern on her face.

"Sorry to bother you, but we haven't seen you in nearly two weeks! I just wanted to check in on you guys, make sure you're okay." She told Bellatrix, her gaze shifting over to offer me a timid smile. I didn't return it, as I was still in a foul mood.

"No, no, everything's fine, well…" Bellatrix sighed. Mirianda moved over to me and climbed into my lap, shoving her face into the fabric of my shirt and clinging to it desperately, in need of comfort, as she knew better than any of us how horrible it was to watch a child wail in psychological torment.

"Malum's been ill." Bellatrix told Annenia, and I was surprised she'd actually done it.

Annenia's face creased with worry. "Nothing too bad I hope?" She asked.

_If only. _I thought, resisting the urge to kick something as I wrapped my arms around my daughter in an attempt to comfort her.

"Well, we've been having some trouble with him for the past few years, he has a mental problem-"

"Damn it, Bella, must the entire world know?" I cried, smashing my fist on the table so hard the plates on the counter rattled, startling Lumin into wrapping herself around Bellatrix' leg and making a sob escape Mirianda as she clung to me even more desperately.

Annenia looked thoroughly embarrassed. "No, it's fine… we hope he feels better. I just wanted to check in on you." She told us, closing the door quickly.

I was on Bella instantly, pushing Mirianda aside despite the fact that she was still crying. "Why, may I ask, did you just inform that muggle of our predicament? It's not for the world to know! It's none of their business." I hissed, clutching at Bellatrix' upper arms so tightly and shaking her so forcefully, she was taken aback, staring up at me with wide eyes, unable to respond.

I immediately relented, seeing the look on her face. "Sorry." I mumbled, letting her go and plopping wearily back into the chair. Bellatrix moved over and sat at the other end of the table, pulling Lumin into her arms. I noticed Bellatrix still wore my cloak, and her feet were still bare. She had been going about the rooms like that for the past two weeks, almost in a daze.

I studied her carefully as she sat across from me, staring at the table somberly, confusion and guilt battling for dominance in her eyes as she rocked back and forth, holding little Lumin in her arms. Silently, I wondered if she had been insanely drunk every other time she'd been in my company, because she simply seemed like a different person. The air of arrogance and superiority was gone, the snappiness was still there on occasion, but had as good as vanished. It didn't seem possible for her to have changed this much.

I narrowed my eyes in suspicion, but said nothing. I returned my gaze to the window, staring out it as muggle vehicles passed from time to time on the wet road, splashing water in their wake. I stared, mesmerized by the gently falling rain. It had been raining nonstop for weeks. My mind was so engrossed in the scene of a child and his parents strolling down the road, splashing in the water, that I didn't hear Mirianda as she continued crying bitterly, slumped to the floor.

I sighed, my gaze moving back to Bellatrix. "Are you alright?" I asked cautiously, my voice had an edge to it, and not enough sympathy, but it would have to do.

"I'm fine." She whispered, not raising her stare.

I didn't buy it. Either she was faking, for some twisted reason, or she actually was really forlorn. Either way, I felt it in my job-description to at least try to comfort her. I stood up, bending down to pull Mirianda to her feet, then walked over to Bellatrix, resting a hand on her shoulder while my other arm was around the weeping child. Bellatrix looked up at me and I offered her the best smile I could muster.

She stared at me for a moment, then jumped up and threw her arms around me, spilling Lumin from her lap, who compensated by coming up and throwing her little arms around us as best as she could. I was startled out of my mind for a moment as Bellatrix held me close, burying her face in my chest. I stood there, rigid, unsure what to do. I awkwardly patted her back and felt her body rock with sobs. I had never seen Bellatrix show a weakness, let alone cry. I hadn't thought that it was physically possible. What the hell was wrong with her?

After a few moments, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her and the girls closer, wondering what could be wrong. I decided the only way to find out, was to ask. "Bella?" I asked in my most soothing voice.

"H-huh?" She hiccupped, still clinging to me desperately.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

She was silent for a few moments, the only sound coming from her was a few sniffles and such. "I don't know." She finally admitted, pulling away slightly. I stared down at her carefully, not wanting to give in to any of her deceiving melodramatic ploys. Her face appeared to show sincere confusion, along with many other jumbled emotions I couldn't make out.

I sighed, sitting down and pulling her close to me like she was a lost child. "Bella-" I began. To my surprise, she actually sat sideways in my lap, which hadn't been my intention. I went on nonetheless. "I need to know what's bothering you." I told her. She nodded childishly, staring at her hands as she played with them in her lap.

"I guess I'm just confused." She began, her voice hoarse and barely above a whisper. She cleared her throat, but it made no difference.

"About what?" I asked tentatively.

"Everything." She replied quietly, taking my arm in her lap and playing with the buttons on my sleeve. I allowed her to do so, even though it was slightly annoying, and even more awkward. For me, anyway. She seemed to not notice.

"About Malum, Lumin, Mirianda." She glanced at the little children, who stared at their parents in confusion, clinging to each other. Mirianda still had tears in her eyes, but had calmed down. "About the muggles, about being here, about…. You." She turned to look at me warily, and I furrowed my brow in confusion. Bellatrix sighed again, looking away and pulling the sides of my cloak up and wrapped it around herself, shivering. "Have you noticed? It's freezing here." She asked out of the blue. "It's especially cold at night." She murmured, looking around. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion and she glanced at me, her face turning red. "Oh, shut up. Not what I meant, Severus." A little of her old self was back in her voice. I smiled wryly. She slid off my lap, much to my relief, releasing my arm from her hold and padding halfway through the kitchen, then stopped.

I stood, taking a few uncertain steps toward her. She turned back to me, a strange look on her face. "Bella-" I was completely cut off by her lunging forward, throwing her arms around my neck and smashing her lips hard against mine. My eyes nearly popped out of my head and I stumbled backwards as she clung to me.

Only a few moments passed, but it felt like an eternity as her warm, soft lips worked against mine, and I was in too much shock to do anything about it but stare at her with eyes wide. She finally pulled back, her face a deep red and I stared down at her, lips parted as though I wanted to say something, but nothing came to mind relevant enough to say at that moment. I stared deep into her dark green eyes as she stared deep into my black ones. Nothing was said, and yet, everything was.

Without a word, she ducked her head and slipped out of the room quickly. I stared after her, transfixed. Startled. Shocked. Annoyed. Maybe even a little pleased? I wasn't sure. I sighed, slumping down in the chair and stared after the strange woman. She was acting so odd lately. Was she sincerely changed, or was this just another of her mad schemes?

"Fafar?" I looked down at my little daughters as they moved over to me, Lumin clutching what looked to be a muggle toy. Silently, I wondered how she'd gotten it. I smiled sadly and pulled the children closer and they clung to me. "What's wrong?" Lumin asked in her tiny three-year-old voice.

"A lot of things, my brilliant peace." I murmured, kissing her forehead. "A lot of things."

**POV: Bellatrix Black**

What the _hell _did I just do?! I paced the floor of the master bedroom, upset. Angered, I picked up a heavy decorative vase and threw it with a cry of frustration that was covered by the loud crash and shatter. I began verbally abusing it whilst stomping on the remaining shards, ignoring the pain as they stabbed my bare feet and made them bleed.

I gushed out a series of random insults and swear words, saving a choice few for the next time I talked to Snape. How _dare_ he twist me into somehow being attracted to him! I gagged at that thought. "The only way I could _ever _be attracted to you is if you swallowed a bloody magnet!" I screamed to no one in particular, directed at Snape even though he wasn't even in the room.

I slammed fists against the wall, then jumped up and down madly, bruising my already bloodied feet as they hit the floor.

"Bella, are you alright-"

I whirled around to face Snape, throwing the first thing at him that reached my hand, which happened to be a curse from my wand.

Severus stiffened, then went limp, hitting the floor with a thud, revealing two frightened looking girls who had been standing just behind him. I stared at Severus' limp form, panting, eyes growing wide. "No, no no! I didn't mean to do that!" I cried, throwing my wand in anger. It hit the wall and clattered to the floor. Why did I let my anger get the best of me so many times? I rushed to Severus' side, checking to make sure I hadn't killed him.

Severus' eyes flashed open and he sat up, staring blankly ahead of him. In a raspy voice that didn't sound like his own, he began to speak rapidly:

"_And the one who feigns evil and the temptress of sin shall bear forth a son, a boy born to die, and he shall be named Evil. Evil will be raised in the pits of hell, and love and mercy shall know him not, and Evil shall be raised in Secret, and shall harbor many of his own. Innocence and purity will be stripped and forgotten. Sire and son will meet, and the child will be laid to rest by the hands of the one who made him, as thus preventing evil from devouring Evil. After he departs, many shall rise and fall, and only one shall remain that still bears his name, and after ten years have passed, history shall repeat itself, secret sins shall make themselves known, the lost shall be found again, the dead will be joined by the living, and the living will cease to be known by the dead."_

Severus choked and started coughing, the glazed look that had been covering his eyes vanished.

I stared at him, eyes wide, clutching at him desperately. "What happened?" He managed to choke after he'd stopped coughing, turning to look at me.

I couldn't answer. I had just witnessed a prophesy! "Severus! I didn't know you were a Seer!" I managed.

"What? I'm not." He told me, brushing my hands off him and gingerly getting to his feet. I stood also.

"What do you mean? You just spat out a bloody prophesy!" I cried.

"What? What did I say?" he demanded, clutching at my shoulders and staring at me seriously. I shook him off, grabbing a quill and parchment and scribbling down the prophesy before I could forget it.

Severus grabbed it and read it silently, his eyes growing wider and wider.

**And the one who feigns evil and the temptress of sin shall bear forth a son, a boy born to die, and he shall be named Evil. Evil will be raised in the pits of hell, and love and mercy shall know him not, and Evil shall be raised in Secret, and shall harbor many of his own. Innocence and purity will be stripped and forgotten. Sire and son will meet, and the child will be laid to rest by the hands of the one who made him, as thus preventing evil from devouring Evil. After he departs, many shall rise and fall, and only one shall remain that still bears his name, and after ten years have passed, history shall repeat itself, secret sins shall make themselves known, the lost shall be found again, the dead will be joined by the living, and the living will cease to be known by the dead.**

"But… I'm not a Seer…" He whispered almost childishly, sinking onto the side of my bed and staring at the parchment. He looked back up at me. "You're sure this is what I said?" He questioned.

I folded my arms, trying to put on a defiant look, but I was still too shaken to manage it well. "Yes, I'm sure."

He raked his gaze back over the parchment. I swallowed, staring at him. There didn't seem to be any damage to him from whatever random curse I had sent his way. I silently wondered if I had accidentally triggered some kind of prophesy….? I highly doubted it.

"Severus… Severus, what does it mean?" I asked, indicating the prophesy.

"I… don't know." He murmured. I knew he was lying. He was as scared as I was that it was about Malum. "'The child will be laid to rest by the hands of the one who made him', what does that mean?" I asked, pointing to the line.

"Whoever the child is, will be killed by one of his parents." Severus said grimly.

"Father." I said.

"What?" He looked at me sharply.

"It's obvious it's the father. Look." I pointed again. "'Sire and son will meet', sire means father." I told him.

"Not always." Severus replied stiffly.

"Just mostly." I shot right back, glaring at him.

Severus was silent for a moment. "It means nothing to me. I'm not a Seer, therefore it is not a legitimate prophesy." He finally said, stuffing the parchment into my grasp and standing back up. I stared after him as he left the room, picking up a trembling Lumin on his way and snatching Mirianda's hand. I looked back down at the prophesy, swallowing hard. With shaking hands, I folded the paper and stuffed it down the front of my corseted blouse. No one could know about this.

**AN: What do you think? Is the prophesy legitimate? And is it about Malum? SPECULATE! As I said in the previous chapter, I WILL NOT BE UPDATING IF I DON'T GET REVIEWS! So if you're even the slightest bit intrigued by this story, or are the tiniest bit curious as to how it ends... I suggest you review.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter nine:**

** Old Man Rhoorest**

**POV: Illumine Shalom Snape**

"Fafar?" I called for father, looking up at him as he sat in the room where food was made. What was the room called again? Was it kitten? Yes, I think it was called a kitten. Miria had gone to her room to see Malum, and father and I were sitting in the kitchen after mother and father had talked angrily to each other. "Daddy?" I tried again, using the name Susan and Kelly used with their father. Father's head snapped up and he stared at me oddly, making me silently wonder if I'd made a mistake. Maybe 'daddy' was only reserved for Susan and Kelly's father?

"What did you call me?" He asked quickly, his voice low and breathy.

I thought for a moment, repeating in my mind what he wanted to know. It had been a question, had it not? "Daddy." I repeated, finally realizing the connection between the word I had used to address him and the words he had used to ask the question.

I stared at the floor, hoping I wasn't in trouble. Surely words couldn't get you in trouble? I glanced up at the look on father's face. Perhaps they could. Father turned in his chair, staring at me intently. He reached out and I went to him willingly, smiling. Maybe I wasn't in trouble after all.

I climbed up onto his lap, with a little help from him, and he moved me so I sat sideways on one of his knees, my legs dangling between them, looking up at him as he wrapped his arms around me. "You've never called me that before, Lumin." He told me softly. I stared at him. How was I supposed to respond? It hadn't been a question. I remained silent, playing with the little black buttons on his sleeve as mother had done earlier.

Finally, I formed my own question in my mind, and opened my mouth to ask him, once again, frustrated with my lack of communication skills, and that my questions always turned out harder to understand than they had been in my mind. But then, I _was_ only three, I would get better at it. "Is…. Okay for Lumi to call fafar daddy?" I asked, meaning to ask him if it was alright if I called him daddy rather than father.

"Is it okay for you to call me daddy?" He repeated quietly, checking to make sure he understood my question. I nodded, relieved I didn't have to repeat the question, but was still searching for a better way to ask it, just in case. He didn't answer for a little bit. About ten little bits, maybe.

I grew impatient and frowned. "A kestion… daddy, you has ta answer it." I told him. "Mommy say dat is…. If, if a kestion… if you axe a kestion, den you has ta answer it." I told him, once again frustrated with my lack of communication abilities. I had tried to tell him that mother had always told me if someone asked you a question, you had to answer it.

Father didn't reply, just continued staring at me. Finally, he did answer. "Yes, you may call me daddy." He told me quietly.

I smiled."Daddy!" I cried happily, throwing my short arms around his neck and hugging him. "Mmmma!" I giggled, smacking a 'kissy' on his cheek, like I'd seen Susan and Kelly do to _their _mummy and daddy. I pulled back, smiling excitedly. My smile faded, however, when I realized the look on daddy's face wasn't a smile. It was an upside-down smile? No, not quite. He had wrinkles on his forehead, and he was staring at me with wide eyes.

A thin smile finally appeared.

"I loves you lots, daddy." I told him, smiling again. His smile disappeared. I stared at him curiously for a moment. Had that been the wrong thing to say?

Daddy drew me into a very not-tight, shaky hug. "You too, Lumi." He replied quietly, his voice shaky and kind of thick sounding.

**POV: Severus Snape**

I held my small daughter in a weak, faltering embrace, but she didn't pull away from it, which I took as a fairly good sign.

She had told me she loved me. It was the first time I had ever heard those words spoken to me. What was I to say in return? Surely I would tell her I loved her too? But to tell her that would be to commit to something I wasn't sure I was ready to commit to. And love was such a strong word. And, despite the fact that I did care for Lumin deeply, I had never really thought about love. Did I love my daughter? Should I risk uttering those three words she had used that meant so much, yet so little if true care and adoration wasn't there to back them up? If it wasn't there, it left the words hollow, and empty. Meaningless. What if I was lying by telling her that I loved her? Could I risk it?

"You too, Lumi." I settled for something somewhat in between a lie and a half-truth, an almost-acceptable compromise, my voice quiet and uncertain. Lumin pulled back eventually, looking around the room with her big, dark green eyes that reminded me so of her mother's. I regarded my daughter thoughtfully for a while.

She and I had always been exceptionally close, despite the fact that I spent little to no time with her. Ugly truth be told, I had hardly registered her existence at all for the first three years of her life, only truly paying the three-year-old any mind in the more recent months.

I found it odd that she liked me better than her mother, whom did nothing but fawn over the girl, whilst either ignoring Mirianda or beating the life out of Malum. I stared at the little girl, who seemed healthy, strong, happy, carefree, all the things Malum had never been, and all the things Mirianda was striving to be. Granted, Lumin wasn't nearly as seraphic by nature as Malum was, and certainly nowhere near as celestial, but she did have the same mystical aura about her that seemed to be the Snape family trait.

"Father?"

I looked up when I heard a tired voice coming a few feet away. "Malum." I said, sounding surprised he was out of bed. He had slept all of ten hours in the past week, of which only two of those hours weren't plagued with nightmares. He looked exhausted, with dark rims under his tired eyes.

Mirianda was right behind him and I glanced up at her suspiciously. "He woke on his own." She assured me.

I reached out and he came to me sluggishly, crawling up into my lap, yawning and curling up there, resting his head on my shoulder. Mirianda come over and leaned on my other shoulder, resting her head there too. I sat there, holding my tiny children, one of which was standing beside me, staring at her siblings, the second staring around at her surroundings with interest, taking everything in like a sponge, while the third looked ready to fall asleep at any moment, completely unresponsive to his surroundings.

I noticed with concern that Malum wasn't growing as quickly as Lumin was. Lumin was nearly as big as her brother, even though he was almost three years older than her. I unconsciously pulled my children closer, watching as they snuggled closer to me. I slipped my right arm from around Lumin and slid it around Mirianda and she looked like she wished to join her siblings, but there simply wasn't any more room on my lap. After a while, she managed to wriggle onto my lap under Lumin and I laughed quietly at her determination. Malum was almost completely asleep when a voice made his eyes pop open again.

"Well well, look at this. Aren't we a happy little family." I looked up to see Bellatrix standing there in all her glory, dark green eyes flashing with defiance and glinting with madness as usual, dark hair spilling from her crown and over her shoulders, falling into her face despite her vain attempts to pin it back. Feet still bare, same black dress and corseted top that she'd been wearing for the past two weeks, despite the fact that I _knew _she'd packed more clothing. She was still wearing my black cloak, which was a little too long for her and dragged on the floor, but seemed to suit her well.

I narrowed my eyes at her and she stared back at the four sets of eyes that gazed up at her. She plastered a wry smile on her face. "Who's hungry?" She asked, gliding over to the muggle stove.

"Oh, me!" Lumin piped up, throwing her hand up in the air and waving it wildly as she clung to her older sister.

"I am too." Mirianda admitted tiredly, her head resting on my shoulder again.

Bellatrix smiled and turned to the now wide-awake Malum. "And what about you, Malum, are you hungry?" She asked. Malum shook his head. Bellatrix' smile vanished. "Why not?" She asked. Malum didn't reply, just stared at the floor. Bellatrix put a hand to his forehead. "He's a little warm." She murmured. I slide my hand up from where it had been wrapped around Mirianda to put it where Bellatrix' hand had been seconds ago.

Indeed, he was warm. In a normal child, that temperature was typical. But Malum wasn't a normal child. He was supposed to be cooler than that, a lot cooler. "Malum? Do you feel ill?" I asked. Stupid question. There hadn't been a single day in the past week that he _hadn't _been ill, but I asked it anyway.

He shook his head. "No." He whispered, closing his eyes and leaning into me further. Bellatrix was hovering over us, a mixed look of concern and annoyance on her face. I felt her frustration this time, however, as it was mutual. I only hoped her frustration was with the Madness, and the helplessness it brought about, and not with Malum himself as he was just as helpless in these situations as she or I.

"Just make something to eat for yourself and the girls, I'm going to take Malum out for some air, if that doesn't help, I'm taking him to the medical center again." I murmured, standing after Mirianda slipped off my lap, Lumin still in her arms.

"Here, you'll need this, it's chilly out there." Bellatrix murmured, taking my cloak off and helping me into it since I was holding Malum. Malum wrapped his legs around my waist and buried his face in the collar of my cloak as I carried the tiny boy out. I was met by Annenia and her daughters who were in the hall, slipping on their shoes, looking just ready to go out.

"Ah, Severus." She smiled, then caught sight of the ill child in my arms. "Is Malum alright?" She asked, a look of concern touching her lovely features.

"He's not feeling well. I'm taking him out for some fresh air, if that doesn't work, I'm going to take him to the hospital." I told her as we slipped out of the house.

"Do you want me to drive you?" She asked.

"No, I have a way to get there." I told her quietly, walking down the drive while the girls skipped around the garden.

"Well, take care, I'm taking the girls to the park." She told me uncertainly, waving as she walked down the road, her daughters following her. I watched her for a while, then started walking in the opposite direction slowly, breathing in the crisp, cool air. Silently, I hoped the icy child would find it refreshing, as warmth usually seemed to make him ill.

"Malum?" I murmured. He made a tiny sound and snuggled his face deeper into the collar of my cloak. "Don't you want to look around, Malum? It's a beautiful day." I told him softly. He raised his head from my shoulder and blinked slowly, black eyes taking in every detail; There were ribbons of golden light rippling through the onyx darkness of the water in the nearby lake and the sky was a kaleidoscope of pinks, oranges, reds and yellows merged together by the lost rays of the gentle light of the sun hidden behind some clouds, catching his face in an eerie glow, making his black eyes flash.

The light made him seem all the paler, all the more wraithlike. I stared at him silently. Had he ever looked like a normal child? I thought back to when he was born, when I had held the tiny, weightless child. His face had been ghastly pale, and he had nearly died right after birth. I held him closer and he put his head back on my shoulder, letting out a tiny sigh in my ear, his cold breath sending a chill down my spine.

Despite the chill in the air, as I played with the hem of his shirt and felt his skin beneath my fingers, it was still warm. I glanced around nervously, then found a bus stop on the corner of the road and sat at it, holding my boy ever closer. I glanced at his pale face. He looked like he was asleep. "Malum? Are you okay?" I asked worriedly. His eyes flicked open and he stared at me wearily. He nodded slowly, his head rubbing against my shoulder.

I sighed again, hugging him closer.

"Evening."

I jumped at a raspy old voice and spun to look at an old man who had suddenly appeared right at my left side. I stared up at him with wide eyes for a moment before regaining my composure.

"Good evening." I replied dryly as he moved around me to sit on my right side on the bench.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, shifting away from him slightly, holding Malum closer. "Fine young girl you got there. Gonna be a real beauty one day." The old man murmured to me, staring at Malum. "A little too pasty though."

I glared at him sharply. "He's not a girl." I told him.

"Eh? Not a girl you say? Cut his hair then! And why is he got such a pretty little face if he's a boy?" he grumbled, leaning closer to get a better look at Malum's face. I ran my hand through Malum's hair. It wasn't long, just to his shoulders and cut in layers. The last time we'd cut it had been when we were at Malfoy manner. It had grown out a little, but I still didn't feel it was too long.

"He just happens to be a beautiful child." I told him gruffly.

"Mm," The old man grunted. He pushed his knobby, bony hand forward, his fingers were twisted and gnarled, reminding me of twisted old tree roots. "Lloick Rhoorest." He told me in his gruff, raspy voice. I tentatively took his hand, fearing I might break the fragile thing. He surprised me by pumping my hand up and down vigorously, squeezing it so hard I no longer feared his hand might break, but rather my own. "Mm, that explains your son." He grumbled, pulling his hand free. I raised an eyebrow at him, pulling my tender hand back and flexing it.

He cackled, sending a shiver down my spine. "Wimpy handshake, wimpy son. I wouldn't be surprised if he turns homosexual in a few years." He told me, his dark eyes glinting.

I narrowed my eyes at him, turning my gaze back to my son. "I can assure you, my son is most certainly not-" I stopped talking, looking back at him and he was gone. I twisted and turned in my seat, but he had simply vanished. "You're going mad, Severus." I growled at myself, pulling the sides of my cloak up and wrapping them around Malum as he had begun to shiver. I had never felt him shiver before, it was odd.

"Time to go back home." I sighed, standing. Fleetingly, I realized I had just referred to the muggle house as 'home' for the second time. I sighed, shifting Malum carefully in my grasp and walked back... home.

**AN: So, what do you think? Will Malum be okay? What will happen to Bellatrix? Who was that creepy Rhoorest guy? SPECULATE! **

**I WILL NOT BE UPDATING UNTIL I GET REVIEWS! **


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